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.
High street retailer Debenhams has announced major plans to restructure its operations which will result in the closure of up to 50 stores meaning that there will be 4,000 job losses. The chain which currently operates 165 UK stores and employs 27,000 people, made the announcement following the release of figures which showed a pre-tax loss. Although Debenhams continues to perform well in terms of its sales, this is not enough to offset the costs of the rents on their units.
A spokesperson for the company commented that the decision which had been taken was intended to secure the long-term future of the business and it was hoped that compulsory redundancies will be kept to a minimum. The timescale for the closures has yet to be announced, but it is expected to take three to five years for all the closures to take effect. A previous restructuring took place in March 2018, when 320 jobs were lost.
Eurofound (2018), Debenhams, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 95865, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/95865?ef_search=&shs_term_node_tid_depth=All&field_ef_announcement_date_value%5Bmin%5D=&field_ef_announcement_date_value%5Bmax%5D=&field_ef_type_of_restructuring_tid=All&page=2007&order=field_ef_announcement_date&sort=asc.