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.
Crummock, the Scottish civil engineering and construction business, went into receivership and 287 of its employees were made redundant with immediate effect.
The representative of the receivers said that the company had serious financial problems and the most important task was now to pay its creditors. A representative of the local council proposed a meeting to discuss what support they can give to the workforce and management.
Crummock was established in 1991 and aimed to become a “one-stop-shop” for civil engineering, surfacing and road markings works. It has worked on a number of prestigious projects in Scotland. The business was made up of three companies: Crummock (Scotland) Ltd, Crummock Holdings Ltd and Crummock Ltd.
The chief executive of CECA Scotland, an organisation that represents over 100 civil engineering contractors, said that Crummock’s fate highlighted the great challenges construction SMEs were currently facing. Indeed, Crummock is the latest construction SME that has gone out of business this year: in March, Vaughan Engineering went into administration, making 147 people redundant. In May, Bristol-based Ikon and the Sussex-based Heritage Building & Conservation firms entered administration, causing the loss of 50 and 55 jobs respectively.
Eurofound (2018), Crummock, Bankruptcy in United Kingdom, factsheet number 94294, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/94294.