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.
Lookers, the British car dealership, has announced that it will permanently close 27 showrooms across the UK by the end of 2020, making 1,500 jobs, approximately 20% of its workforce, redundant. Redundancy consultations with the affected staff have already started.
The company’s chief executive said that the large scale restructuring is necessary to ensure future sustainability. Lookers and the UK’s car industry as a whole have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as production and sales have fallen sharply since February 2020.
Lookers is one of the top three car retailers in the UK, operating 164 car dealerships, used car trade centres and service centres across the country.
Eurofound (2020), Lookers, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 101063, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/101063.