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 management of Mahle, the German manufacturing company supplying components for the automotive sector, has reached an agreement to close its factory in Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona), dismiss its 343 workers, and spend 37 million euros on their severance pay. Specifically, compensation for those affected will be between 23 and 33 days per year worked (depending on age) and with a minimum of €35,000 per person. The company's reason for closing the factory is that the type of product it manufactures in Spain will be outdated with the transformation of the automotive industry towards the electric car. The plant manufactures pistons and piston rings for combustion engines.
Eurofound (2022), Mahle, Closure in Spain, factsheet number 106292, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/106292.