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.
Bosch, a German automotive supplier, manufacturer of industrial, energy and building technology and consumer durables headquartered in Stuttgart, announced 230 job cuts at its production site in Munich - Berg am Laim, in Bavaria, Germany.
Bosch initially announced that it would consider closing the Bosch plant in Munich on 27 July 2021. On 17 November 2021, the works council announced opposition to these plans. On 18 May 2022 Bosch Powertrain Solutions announced that it would relocate production of parts for the electric fuel pump from Munich to Nuremberg, by the end of 2022, and valve production and pump assembly to Austria and the Czech Republic by the end of 2027.
After months of negotiations, employee representatives and management have agreed on a reconciliation of interests and a social plan. The 230 affected employees will get job offers at other Bosch plants or be placed externally. The package of measures includes voluntary termination agreements. The agreement stipulates that redundancies for operational reasons are excluded until the end of March 2024.
The Munich site is to become a development and service location. Bosch announced in 2021 that it was evaluating various scenarios for the location due to the sustained decline in the production volume of components for combustion engines in Munich. Bosch has recently offshored 2 other plants, one in Bühl (Borch Werk Bühl/ Bühlertal 2022 - DE) and one in Murrhardt (Borch 2022 - DE).
Eurofound (2021), Bosch , Relocation in Germany, factsheet number 106850, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/106850.