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.
Wickes Building Supplies Limited, a UK-based retailer of DIY and home improvement products has announced that it will cut 100 jobs at its head office in Watford, England. This is a significant cut, reducing the number of staff employed in the head office by a third. The spokesperson for the company said that the reduction is part of a cost saving strategy. The company has not given any information about the timescale of the job cuts but the spokesperson stated that “the business is committed to fully supporting” the employees who are affected by the redundancies.
Wickes Building Supplies Limited has 246 stores across the UK and employs 7,000 people.
Eurofound (2018), Wickes Building Supplies Limited, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 94207, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/94207.