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.
The 2 Sisters Food Group has announced that 300 jobs are at risk of redundancy at its chicken factory in Llangefni on the island of Anglesey. Information published after meetings between Unite and management clarified that the proposals were for 116 direct employees and 184 agency staff. The company indicated that the cuts would be made directly after the 45 day consultation process which started on 23 February.
The site currently employs around 700 workers and is one of the largest employers on the island. A formal consultation period has now started. The cuts propose a reduction from two production lines to one. The second production line was created as recently as 2013. A spokesperson for the Unite union said that while the factory had been undergoing a strategic review the decision to cut jobs came as a surprise; the union had been expecting an announcement of expansion following recent investment at the site.
Update (17/06/2015): At conclusion of the 45 day formal consultation period around plans to move to a new operating system at the plant, a total of 221 workers have lost their jobs at the 2 Sisters factory in Anglesea, Wales. Of the 221 jobs that were lost, 14 resulted from compulsory redundancy, 37 people took voluntary redundancy and contracts were not renewed for a further 170 agency workers. A total of 49 of the jobs that were under threat have been saved.
Eurofound (2015), 2 Sisters Food Group, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 78656, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/78656.