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.
Food Utopia, owners of the Avana Bakeries site in Newport, Wales, have announced that they intend to close the site with the loss of around 150 jobs. The site has been under pressure for some time. In July 2014 Food Utopia took over the running of the business and subsequently cut 390 jobs. A statutory 45 day consultation has been announced and the plans are to shut down production by the end of January 2017. A spokesperson for Food Utopia said that the consultation would explore all options for the business, but also commented that the site had been running at a loss and could therefore not be sustained.
Updated, 27/01/2017; It has been confirmed that Avana Bakeries will shut down production on 27 January 2017, with the loss of around 100 jobs. The Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAW) commented that some workers would work a notice period until the end of February 2017 and they will work on specialist cake production in that period; mass production techniques will no longer be used at the site.
Eurofound (2016), Avana Bakeries, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 89740, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/89740.