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.
On 12 January 2012, the Royal Bank of Scotland, which is majority owned by the British government (83%), announced around 4,800 job cuts worldwide in the framework of a major restructuring of its investment banking arm, and a sell-off of loss-making businesses.
Job losses will affect the investment banking division (3,500 jobs) over three years in the UK and other countries, plus 1,300 jobs will be cut (in particular 600 jobs in the Irish Republic and another 350 in Belfast and other northern UK locations). The losses take the number of staff shed by the bank since 2008 to about 35,000. On April 2009, RBS announced 9,000 job cuts worldwide in a bid to reduce costs and repay government funds (Factsheet 14869).
Eurofound (2012), Royal Bank of Scotland, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 72950, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/72950.