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.
Supermarket chain Waitrose has announced plans to close seven of its stores. The decision puts 677 jobs at risk. Three of the stores (Bromley in London, Oadby in Leicestershire and Wollaton in Nottinghamshire) have been sold to competitor Lidl though it is understood that Lidl will bring in its own staff. The other sites (Sandhurst in Berkshire, Marlow in Buckinghamshire, Stevenage in Hertfordshire, and a convenience store near Heathrow) are expected to close in the Autumn of 2019. The statutory period of consultation is reported to be underway. This restructuring is the second by Waitrose in 2019; earlier in the year it announced the closure of five stores.
Eurofound (2019), Waitrose, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 98241, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/98241.