Question

As part of their job responsibilities, engineers often have to make decisions related to the financial well-being of their organization. This includes the process of downsizing: reducing their staff and subcontracting the work/jobs. Some of the reasons for downsizing include:

1. To reduce the cost of production/operations by shifting work to lower-cost wage regions (domestically or internationally).
2. To reduce the cost of production/operations by introducing advanced technologies (e.g. automation) that require fewer employees
3. To gain market share in other regions by setting up plans in new targeted markets. Some of these markets may require using local labor by creating "local" employment opportunities.
4. To lower production cost by taking advantage of incentives offered by another locale (i.e. another city, state, or country)

Discuss the ethical issues and responsibilities associated with downsizing and how they related to the engineering code of ethics.

Note: you can just answer 1 out of the 4 topics listed above

Answer 1

Discuss the ethical issues and responsibilities associated with downsizing and how they related to the engineering code of ethics.

Whenever a company chooses to downsize, many of the existing employees are bound to lose their jobs and suffer financially. In some cases, they may be the single earning member of the family or may have dependents, bank loans, medical bills etc. For an organisation, many ethical issues may arise such as –

a. Choosing to fire between two equally competitive employees

b. Keeping professional competency separate from personal responsibilities, rapport with the employees

c. Nature and value of the severance package

d. Firing tenured employees – if there skills become redundant due to automation. These are the people who contributed to strengthen the organisation in its first few years, stood by you through thick and thin, risky situations

Responsibilities associated with downsizing include:

a. Ensure a good severance package for outgoing employees

b. If possible, organise a job fair for the outgoing employees, support them through recommendations in finding new jobs

c. Choose ethically. Professional competency should be kept above favouritism

d. Inform the employees well in advance if introducing a new technology. Offer them option to get trained, switch departments or may be even jobs to avoid them from being unemployed

If we look at the relationship with Engineering code of ethics:

a. Unbiasedness: one has to be objective, righteous while choosing the people who should be asked to leave the organisation

b. Honesty: Be honest and open with your employees, tell them about the potential change, share what’s in store for them and what do they need to prepare for

c. Professional Strength: Focus on the professional strength of employees while choosing, if there are two employees at the same competence level, reach out to them and ask their plans for sticking around in the organisation, focus on their adaptability and learnability to do new things

d. Confidentiality: Maintain confidentiality about employee’s performance. Also, ensure that outgoing employees maintain confidentiality about your business secrets