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 French railway company SNCF is to lose 1,443 jobs during 2016 (approximately 1% of the total workforce). Cuts will mainly affect the company’s mobility division (passengers transport activities) with 1,793 job cuts, the freight division (495 job cuts, 6.9% of the workforce of the division) and online-ticket sales division (700 job cuts, – 3.4% of the workforce).
In 2016, the group will recruit 5,400 employees while facing 7,000 natural departures. The net job losses thus amount to 1,443 workplaces in term of budgetary equivalent full time positions.
The measure is part of SNCF’s continuing restructuring programme that is to increase its competitiveness and to free up resources for investments in the infrastructure and security.
As announced, the job cuts will be implemented via natural attrition.
Previous reports announced several rounds of job expansions (2011-1, 2011-2) and job cuts (2010, 2014)
Eurofound (2015), SNCF, Internal restructuring in France, factsheet number 85803, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/85803.