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.
During a meeting with the national trade unions on January 9, Coop Alleanza 3.0, a cooperative supermarket, announced the redundancy of 752 full-time equivalents (on a total of 1,547 in the affected seats) among its administrative staff employed in the company's 7 administrative offices throughout the country. The relocation operation will be carried out within two years. In 2019, the restructuring plan should affect 425 people.
The cooperative explained that this measure is necessary for increasing the efficiency of the organisational structure and the rationalisation of costs, following the merger of the three cooperatives (north-east, Estense and Adriatica) which gave birth to the new company on January 1, 2016.
The company argued that the plan will have a no occupational impact, since it does not entail direct dismissals, but only voluntary exits, with early retirement incentives for workers close to retirement age, and the relocations of the remaining staff to salespoints. This notwithstanding, trade unions expressed deep concern.
Currently, Coop Alleanza 3.0 counts 2.3 million members, 22,000 workers and almost 400 stores located in 9 regions.
Eurofound (2019), Coop Alleanza 3.0, Internal restructuring in Italy, factsheet number 96541, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/96541.