My Workplace Ethical Dilemma
Ethics is the general term for the study of morality. In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is "good" or "right" (en.wikipedia.org, "Ethics," n.d.). As humans we are frequently faced with making decisions based on certain situations and your ethics, personal or otherwise. These situations can and will arise at home and at work. Those decisions can be as simple as what to eat for breakfast; however others are difficult and will challenge our ethics and morals. What was the last dilemma you where faced with? Were your ethics challenged?
I was recently faced with a workplace dilemma that challenged my personal code of ethics. When the situation was presented I knew what the outcome would be, however it was still personally challenging. To set the stage; I am the Platform Engineering Lead for Northrop Grumman Information Technology (NGIT), supporting Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. (VAII) in Hawthorne. VAII has worked through severe cost reductions since September 11 (9-11). This year Vought requested NGIT to reduce their contract price by 3.6 million dollars. Obviously this would mean NGIT would have to consider a reduction in work force (RIF) and services to meet this request.
In early-April I was notified, as Hawthorne lead, one of my staff members would be laid-off. David, the employee to be laid-off, had been with the company for twenty-one years. As a lead in the state of California, I am not allowed to hire or fire an employee, therefore someone from management would be out one week later to notify David. As there were multiple sites having to give notice to ...