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 Japanese-owned Yazaki Wiring Technologies Lietuva, which produces bunched cables for the automotive industry, is closing its factory in Klaipeda and will dismiss 435 employees. The company announced it to the Lithuanian Employment Service on 23 April 2021.
According to the management, the primary cause of the closure is the significantly reduced demand for the company’s products due to the COVID-19 crisis. The contract for electrical installation for Volvo trucks expires in April 2021 and it will not be renewed, while the production of cable equipment for Mercedes-Benz cars was already relocated to a company’s Serbian branch in autumn 2020.
The company's management informed that Yazaki Wiring Technologies Lietuva will comply with the requirements of the Lithuanian laws and will give full support and consultations for the redundant employees. The trade union representing the company's employees have not commented the announcement yet.
The Lithuanian branch of Yazaki was established in Klaipeda in 1993 and it was producing electrical installation for Volvo and Renault trucks as well as for Mercedes-Benz cars. Yazaki Wiring Technologies is a world-leading manufacturer of cable equipment for leading brands such as BMW, Opel, Mercedes-Benz, and many Japanese and Korean car manufacturers. The company has 487 branches in 45 countries.
Eurofound (2021), Yazaki Wiring Technologies Lietuva, Closure in Lithuania, factsheet number 104663, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/104663.