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.
Alstom Croatia, the electrical manufacturing company recently bought by General Electric, announced the dismissal of up to 250 workers as part of a business restructuring plan. The US company General Electric (GE) became the owner of the French corporation Alstom in November 2015, and soon after began consultations with representatives of local employees regarding a reorganisation of the energy business, both in Croatia and at a European level. Alstom Croatia covers business development activities and auxiliary and preparatory services for tenders on numerous projects in Croatia and the South East Europe area, encompassing both railway infrastructure and rolling stock businesses. According to the available information, around 130 of the people whose jobs are at risk are engineers from the department of development. Also at risk is the service and maintenance department, and a smaller number of workers in manufacturing. The GE representative said that the restructuring of the company in Croatia and in other parts of the world, is necessary to make the company competitive and successful on the market. GE has stated its commitment to constructive cooperation with employee representatives in order to minimize the social impact of these activities.
Eurofound (2016), Alstom Croatia, Internal restructuring in Croatia, factsheet number 86146, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/86146.