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.
Defence contractor BAE systems has announced plans to cut 1,915 jobs from its UK operations. The cuts will affect jobs in the company's military, maritime and intelligence divisions. The majority of the cuts will be from the aircraft manufacturing part of the business which result from a lack of orders for the Typhoon Jet and the Hawk trainer jet. It is anticipated that the job cuts will begin in January 2018 and take place over a two year period.
Business Minister, Claire Perry, responded to questions in Parliament about the job cuts and denied that they were the result of cuts to the UK's defence budget. Commentators have suggested that, rather than the cuts being attributable to lack of orders from the UK government, falling sales to controversial buyers in the Middle East is more likely the cause.
The Union has reacted with anger claiming that the UK government should take back control of the UK defence so support UK defence manufacturing jobs.
Eurofound (2017), BAE Systems, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 92361, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/92361.