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.
Historic designer and manufacturer of sinks for kitchens and bathrooms, has announced that it will close its plant in Falkirk, Scotland and transfer production to a new plant in Slovakia. The company is now owned by the Swiss group Franke, but was originally founded as an iron foundry in 1759. Grahame Smith, the general secretary of the Scottish Trade Union Congress, described the news as 'a devastating blow'. Reports differ as to the expected timeline of the relocation. However, operations director Bart Doornkamp has stated that the company still must conclude negotiations with trade unions, to assist in the orderly phased closure of the plant which will be completed by December 2017.
Eurofound (2016), Carron Phoenix, Offshoring/Delocalisation in United Kingdom, factsheet number 88345, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/88345.