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.
Blizzard Entertainment has announced 134 job cuts in its office at Versailles (Yvelines) out of a total workforce of 400 employees. These job cuts are part of a global reorganisation decided by the American parent company, Activision Blizzard, which has eliminated some 800 positions out of a total workforce of 9,600 employees worldwide.
This announcement left employees surprised because the publisher achieved a record turnover in 2018 of about $6.62 (€5.85) billion. Although, when Blizzard Entertainment presented its financial results, it specified that no major releases were planned for 2019. Blizzard could propose transfers to its other European facilities located in Cork (Ireland), or The Hague (Netherlands). However, it can be estimated that a large number of employees will not accept such transfer.
Eurofound (2019), Blizzard Entertainment, Internal restructuring in France, factsheet number 97210, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/97210.