Ethics in the digital workplace
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
McDonald’s, US-headquartered chain of fast food restaurants, is to create 3,000 new jobs in Italy by the end of 2015. It is reported that most new jobs will be part-time jobs as the company sets out to open 100 new restaurants in the next three years.
In response to this expansion, the Filcams-Cgil trade union has criticized the industrial relations model at McDonald’s. In particular, the trade union has condemned the lack of company-level bargaining and the large use of part-time jobs by the company.
Currently, McDonald’s has around 16,000 employees in Italy.
Eurofound (2013), McDonald's, Business expansion in Italy, factsheet number 74783, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/74783.