Offending ethics April 12, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in career, societal commentary, work.Tags: academia, ethics, layoffs, work
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I’ve heard about businesses that decide to cut costs by hiring newer, cheaper workers. They then ask the older workers to train them in, and once that has been completed, the company fires the older workers. On the same note, Fluxor describes a scenario where he is supposed to keep a team moving once they’ve all been fired and their offices have been shut down…despite the fact their product was making oodles of money for the company.
Academia isn’t immune from this. We had layoffs a couple months ago, and several of the people who were let go had to train in remaining people to fulfill their job duties after they left. It didn’t feel particularly kind to do that, but I will say that at least it wasn’t that any of us were happy to see those people go.
And sometimes you get stuck directly in a very morally questionable situation. Mommy/Prof, talked about dealing with faculty candidates from her old department both here and here.
Of course, the list can go on and on with issues like conflict of interest (which can encompass many things) along with many other moral and ethical issues.
Has anyone ever ended up with an uncomfortable spot at work because of an ethical or moral dilemma? Do you take the high road all the time? Do you ever feel justified in not doing so? Is it different if the impact is on someone other than yourself?
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