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 Lithuanian postal company Lietuvos Pastas is to dismiss around 592 employees in different Lithuanian regions by the end of November 2022. The company has already given notice of dismissal to employees working as letter and customer service professionals. Lietuvos Pastas is experiencing financial difficulties due to the decline in conventional postal services as customers are increasingly choosing alternative delivery methods. Furthermore, the abolition of a VAT exemption for parcels from non-EU countries negatively influenced the company's turnover. The flow of such deliveries fell by 64 percent in the second half of 2021. The company reported a net loss of €6.4 million in 2021. Around €800,000 will be spent on the dismissed employees' severance payments.
Lietuvos Pastas is the largest Lithuanian postal company, employing around 3,700 employees in different regions of Lithuania. The company owns 254 „PayPost“ divisions, 9 logistics centres and 285 LP Express self-service parcel terminals.
Previous business restructurings were recorded in the ERM database in 2021, with 380 job cuts (Lietuvos Pastas-2021-LT), and in 2019, with 120 job cuts (Lietuvos Pastas-2019-LT).
Eurofound (2022), Lietuvos Pastas, Internal restructuring in Lithuania, factsheet number 106835, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/106835.