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.
Södersjukhuset, a public hospital located in the county of Stockholm, announced its plans to cut 100 hospital positions in 2020. The will decision affect 50 nurses, 25 doctors and 25 employees within administrative units. The restructuring event results from unprofitability of the hospital whose economic deficit in 2019 is estimated to reach SEK 130 million (€125 million as at 13 December 2019).
Trade unions are concerned over the well-being of the remaining hospital personal as the restructuring event may increase their workload.
This restructuring event is connected to a wider reorganisation of the healthcare system of the county of Stockholm towards a more decentralised system that provides services closer to the patients. As a result of this reorganisation, in particular, the role of hospitals providing emergy care has changed. In November 2019, Karolinska Universitetsjukhuset, another public hospital operating in the county of Stockholm, announced its plans to dismiss 600 job positions.
Update 03/03/2020:Södersjukhuset announced that the planned dismissals no longer include nursers or doctors, but only 25 employees from administrative units of the hospital. The number of planned dismissals has thus decreased from 100 to 25. The decision to keep the medical positions has been taken to prevent long waiting times to emergency healthcare. There is no direct connection between this decision and the outbreak of coronavirus disease Covid-19, but the hospital has experienced some problems with long waiting times also before the outbreak.
Eurofound (2019), Södersjukhuset, Internal restructuring in Sweden, factsheet number 99246, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/99246.