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 Thursday 6th of July, Microsoft, the US software giant announced a reorganisation plan that will lead to the loss of 3,000 jobs worldwide, largely in sales. Around 75 percent of the job cuts are expected to affect staff outside the United States, although no specific locations have been announced for the job reductions at this stage. As of July 2017, the exact time frame for the job reductions have not been reported.
The company specified that the aim of the reorganisation is not to cut costs, but to change how Microsoft operates sales. Microsoft employs around 121,000 workers worldwide, 71,000 of which in the US.
Eurofound (2017), Microsoft, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 91646, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/91646.