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 telecommunication group Orange decided to concentrate its cyber security service in the same location, at La Défense, and to recruit about 1,000 engineers and technicians by 2020 to reinforce its team of 1,200 experts including 500 already working at La Défense. This staff was previously dispersed in different sites in the Paris region (Rueil Malmaison, Bagnolet etc.). By 2020, Orange targets a turnover of €350 million (against 250 million in 2016) in the cyber security. With this high tech campus in the first European business district, Orange also hopes to attract talent more easily. According to l'Usine Nouvelle, with this new headquarters, Orange has tripled its ability to attract young engineers; which is a major advantage in a sector where specialised skills are scarce. Stéphane Richard, the CEO, has addressed the difficulties faced during recruitment: 'Last year we were looking for 100 engineers and we have painfully recruited 20'. 'We plan to recruit more than 1,000 people by 2020' said Michel Van Den Berghe, president of Orange Cyberdefense, who welcomed the installation of the headquarters at La Défense. 'When we were on six different sites in Ile-de-France, it was difficult to attract candidates.'. But the problem also comes from cybersecurity courses that are still too rare, even if the engineering schools start offering this specialty in the fifth year. Hence the Orange project to open next year in the business district an Academy of cyberdefence. Orange has announced the recruitment of 120 employees in the region Nouvelle Aquitaine earlier this year, and a recruitment of 300 for its new financial activities in its subsidiary Orange Bank last week.
Eurofound (2017), Orange Cyberdéfense, Business expansion in France, factsheet number 92229, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/92229.