GS Paper 4
Source: The Hindu
Context: Twitter’s roughly 7,500 employees are expecting mass layoffs as new owner Elon Musk overhauls the social platform, which he believes is essential for the company’s long-term success.
Background:
- A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of an employee’s or a group of employees’ employment for business reasons such as personnel management or downsizing (cutting the size of) an organization.
- The layoffs at Twitter come at a tough time, when newcomers, primarily TikTok, are posing a threat to older social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
- A class action lawsuit was filed by laid-off employees, alleging that Twitter has violated the law by failing to provide the requisite notice.
Ethical issues involved:
- Balancing the interests of the two important stakeholders – investors and employees:
- Because financial losses are only temporary, investors must be convinced of long-term rewards. Instead of layoffs, employees should be encouraged to upgrade themselves and work overtime to help the company get through difficult times.
- In this way, both of their interests can be balanced.
- Utilitarianism: From the utilitarian point, mass layoff’s impact on the well-being of the people as a whole must be considered. While lower profits (maybe short-term losses) will hurt shareholders/investors, the cost of job loss will be suffered by employees and their families.
- Corporate governance and business ethics: It demands that employees must be given a notice period before asking to leave the company.
- Responsibility: It is the legal obligation of a company or employer to act in the best interest of its employees.
- Empathy: Elon Musk once stated in an interview that he experienced financial difficulties when unemployed. Thus, he should think from the standpoint of his employees.
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Q. What’s the importance of ethics and morals in work culture? Can ethics be enforced in the workplace? Examine. (10M)
