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.
Ventura, a firm that operates in the call centre sector, has announced that it is to close its site in Cardiff with the loss of 600 jobs. According to media reports, it has been suggested that the firm will move the work carried out at the Cardiff site to other locations that the firm operates in the UK. However, the firm has not commented on this and there is limited information on this. Management at the Cardiff site stated that they would attempt to redeploy staff to alternative roles where possible, but also stated that there was a strong possibility of redundancies being made. A spokesman for the Welsh Assembly Government stated:
‘[We are] extremely disappointed, particularly given the strength of the contact centre sector in Wales. Our first priority, of course, is to try and prevent these jobs from being lost, and senior officials from the Department for Economy and Transport are in the process of speaking to the company to discuss this announcement in detail and identify what support can be provided to keep these jobs in Cardiff.’
Ventura is owned by the clothing retailer Next and operates seven sites in the UK. Ventura started operating at the Cardiff site in 2004. As of June 2008, there is no information on when the closure of the Cardiff site will be implemented.
Eurofound (2008), Ventura, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 66735, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/66735.