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.
Bol.com, a Dutch e-commerce company, has announced that it will cut 300 jobs. The growth of the company has come to a standstill, attributed to the discontinuation of COVID-19 related restrictions. The company is not expected to grow further in 2023. To ensure Bol.com remains profitable, the company has announced 'a complete cost-effectiveness programme’. 300 people will lose their jobs in total, this includes 100 employees who will not see their contract renewed, and the other 200 jobs will be lost through not filling vacancies and the reduction of external hiring. It is the first round of cutbacks that Bol.com has had to implement in years. For years, turnover increased by double digits per year, making the company the largest webshop in the Benelux area.
The e-commerce company Bol.com was founded in the Netherlands, 1999, offering a range of consumer goods on its web platform.
Eurofound (2022), Bol.com, Internal restructuring in Netherlands, factsheet number 108023, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/108023.