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.
Austrian furniture retailer XXXLutz has announced that it will create at least 2,200 new jobs in Europe in 2022, as part of its business expansion. Nearly 2,000 new positions are expected to be created in Germany in 2022, while 200 employees will be hired in Linz (Austria), where a new office will open in 2022.
The company is also to hire 900 new employees in Austria by 2024, of which two thirds will be in Upper Austria, and is looking for 1,000 apprentices in 15 different departments in Germany in 2021. Over the last few years, XXXLutz has hired thousands of young trainee recruits and intends to continue this strategy despite challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to the COVID-19 related lockdown, XXXLutz has optimised and digitalised many of its operations.
XXXLutz was founded in 1945 in Austria. XXXLutz has currently approximately 27,700 employees. Currently, the company is the biggest furniture retailer in Austria. XXXLutz operates in Austria, Germany, Sweden, France, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, and Switzerland.
Eurofound (2021), XXXLutz, Business expansion in European Union, factsheet number 105262, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/105262.