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.
Rolls-Royce, the UK-based engineering company announced on June 14th that it will make 3,000 of its employees redundant by the end of 2020, and about a third of these cuts will take place in 2018. The majority of jobs will be lost in the UK, affecting managerial and support positions, particularly at the company’s main site in Derby, England. The chief executive said that Rolls-Royce must fundamentally change how it works and become a simpler, leaner, and more agile organisation. The general secretary of Unite the union claimed that these jobs cuts will have detrimental impact on local communities. The company has a workforce of 50,000 globally and around a half of them are employed in the UK. Rolls-Royce has already cut hundreds of managerial jobs since 2015.
Earlier in June, the group announced that it will cut 4,600 jobs worldwide.
Eurofound (2018), Rolls-Royce, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 94325, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/94325.