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 Handmade Burger Company has entered administration. The business, which employed around 900 people across 29 restaurants, was founded in Birmingham in 2006. Last year it had outlined intentions to expand. On appointment, the administrators closed nine of the 29 restaurants with immediate effect, resulting in the loss of 150 jobs. The company's website and social media accounts were also shut down. The remaining restaurants will remain open while the administrators search for a buyer for the business; the future of the remaining 750 jobs is therefore uncertain.
UPDATE 31/07/2017: It has been confirmed by the administrators that a buyer has been found for the Handmade Burger Company. Twenty of the original 29 restaurants are included in the deal. The other nine restaurants which closed when the firm entered administration will not reopen and the job losses have been confirmed at 163.
Eurofound (2017), Handmade Burger Company, Bankruptcy in United Kingdom, factsheet number 91518, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/91518.