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.
Turin public transport operator GTT (Gruppo Torinese Trasporti) announced 120 job losses in 2015. The job cuts will affect white-collar workers and will be implemented through an early retirement scheme. Further jobs are expected to be cut through voluntary and incentivised redundancy procedures. Redundant staff will benefit from income support instruments until they are eligible for retirement.
The decision to reduce the costs of the company by implementing job cuts follows the withdrawal of the Turin city council from the decision to sell a stake to private shareholders. Over the last years, tenders were issued unsuccessfully until December 2014, when two prospective buyers, Arriva and Trenitalia, also withdrew their interest in acquiring shares of the company .
The restructuring plan is expected to increase financial stability of the company and savings may be used to recruit new bus drivers.
Eurofound (2014), GTT (Gruppo Torinese Trasporti), Internal restructuring in Italy, factsheet number 78343, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/78343.