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 has announced that it is to cut 2,300 jobs of its global workforce of 39,500. The losses will be confined to the company's managerial, professional and clerical staff, with the overhead and support functions seeing headcount fall by between 8% and 10%. Despite the cuts the company said it would continue to recruit graduates, apprentices and those “required directly to deliver growth”.
Rolls Royce is yet to give details of how the job losses will be divided among different geographical areas. Rolls-Royce employs 23,300 people in Britain; 8,300 in North America; 2,300 in Germany; 3,400 in the Nordic countries; almost 700 in Asia, and 1,500 in the rest of the world. The company gave no time frame for the job cuts, saying it was still discussed with staff and unions.
The jobs cuts have been announced despite the company's order book of more than £35bn and reported annual sales in 2006 of £7.4bn. It has reported that it faces rising raw material costs and that the current weakness of the US dollar is causing it problems.
Unite, the recognised trade union for dealing with Rolls Royces UK staff, is attempting to ascertain the level of job cuts in the UK. Unite has announced that it will do everything it can to help the company to remain competitive but that it would not accept any attempt to make compulsory redundancies.
Eurofound (2008), Rolls-Royce, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 66196, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/66196.