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.
The Bulgarian underground mining and mining construction company Rudmetalannounced forthcoming closure of the mine and collective dismissal of all mine workers, who account for 195 out of 225 employees at Rudozem plant, near Smolyan. Further, 55 workers, employed by partnering companies, will also lose their jobs at the mine. According to the mayor of Rudozem, the number of redundancies may go up to 300. The management has notified the local labour inspection that at the end of April 2020 it will send official notices to affected workers. The dismissals will be carried out between June and September 2020.
The restructuring is due to business unsustainability and incresing production costs. In addition, the situation was worsened in the first quarter of 2020 by the outbreak of COVID-19 and drop of metal prices on international markets.
Rudmetal is an important enterprise for Rudozem and its closure will be a big hit for the local economy. The mine’s history dates back to the 1950s.
Eurofound (2020), Rudmetal, Closure in Bulgaria, factsheet number 100489, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/100489.