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.
Construction group, Balfour Beatty, has made 400 staff redundant in the first half of 2015. The job losses which have occurred so far have been concentrated in back office roles such as IT, HR, Finance and Legal.
The cuts were made as part of an ongoing strategy to reduce business costs. The company is seeking to save 100 million GBP by the end of 2016, and has so far saved about one quarter of that figure. The outcome of the strategy was revealed when the company presented its half-year results.
Eurofound (2015), Balfour Beatty, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 84518, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/84518.