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.
The energy firm, British Gas, has announced that it is to close its call centre in Southampton with the loss of 500 jobs. The company identified that customers were making increasing use of the internet and did not need to speak to call centre agents about their bills.
The company announced that it hopes to move 50 roles to another local site, but that the remaining 500 jobs would be lost through compulsory redundancies.
There is no information on the timeline for the job reductions thus far.
UPDATE 23 July 2012: The company announced that 140 employees will leave in August and the remaining staff will be made redundant by the end of November. 40 employees will be transfered to a nearby plant of Chandler's Ford. The company will consider redemployment and alternative employment opportunities.
Eurofound (2012), British Gas, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 73510, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/73510.