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.
Aldel is a company producing and processing aluminium in Delfzijl, Groningen. The company will dismiss 175 employees as a result of the high energy prices crisis. The factory in Delfzijl had already been largely shut down since the beginning of September, but now it has become impossible to continue producing the metal at a profit and the company is currently on a 'controlled shut down”. The company will continue the production only with 13 employees, but stated its intention to restart usual production in the future. However, in order for the company to start again, it would need either substantial support from the government, or gas prices would need to fall structurally. Yet, the financial director of the company has stated that bankruptcy is 'not likely'.
Aldel has already faced financial difficulties in the past, having gone bankrupt and restarted twice before, and since October last year the company has produced only one third of what it would have usually produced.
Previous announcements were recorded on the ERM database in 2021, with 150-200 job cuts (Aldel-2021-NL), in 2013, with 300 job cuts (Aldel-2013-NL) and in 2009, with 185 job cuts (Aldel-2009-NL).
Eurofound (2022), Aldel, Internal restructuring in Netherlands, factsheet number 107450, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/107450.