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.
Cosmetics company Avon is to cease its activities in France by the end of October with the consequent loss of 127 job jobs.
The measure will affect all contracted workers in Villepinte (Seine-Saint-Denis). Additionally, it impacts about 11,000 non-contracted vendors that distributed Avon products on a local basis. The latter workers are not to be included in the social plan.
The company is to be liquidated in the next weeks. According management, it made deficits each year since 2000.
Worker representatives have criticized the company’s decision, also claiming that it had not followed the regular procedure for redundancies. The management will meet unions in further negotiations over the closure.
Avon group is based in the US and operates in over 140 countries.
Eurofound (2013), Avon, Closure in France, factsheet number 76030, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/76030.