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.
Retailer Sportland LT selling sporting equipment in Lithuania dismissed around 55 employees in Vilnius in the period from 15 March 2020 to 1 April 2020. The number of employees in the company decreased from 373 to 318. The main cause of the dismissals is the quarantine regime in Lithuania. To control the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), the Lithuanian Government declared quarantine on the entire territory of the Republic of Lithuania as of 16 March 2020.
Sportland LT belongs to the Sportland International Group which owns 80 stores in the Baltic States.
According to the Employment Service, since the beginning of the quarantine regime, the number of employees in Lithuania has already decreased by more than 8 thousand.
Eurofound (2020), Sportland LT, Internal restructuring in Lithuania, factsheet number 100149, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/100149.