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.
Oxfam, a charity organisation focusing on international development, has announced that it has started formal consultations with 100 of its UK-based staff about their redundancy. In a statement issued on May 16th, Oxfam said that it had to reorganise its work as the amount of donations it receives had dropped significantly. International and UK donors have withheld funding after it was revealed in early 2018 that some staff members had committed sexual abuse and that senior management had kept this information secret.
The regional co-ordinator of the trade union Unite, which represents Oxfam staff, regrets that many workers who have dedicated their lives to the charity face losing their jobs due to other persons' faults. Unite has called for a culture change at Oxfam to restore public confidence in its work and called on governmental organisations to continue funding the charity's work.
Eurofound (2018), Oxfam GB, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 94204, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/94204.