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.
Consumer electronics retail chain Gigantti is initiating cooperation negotiations encompassing 960 employees in 21 stores around Finland. The company is considering cutting up to 100 jobs as well as making changes to the terms and conditions of employment or reducing the working hours of another 50 staff in Finland. The negotiations concerns both managerial and floor staff.
According to Gigantti, the need for reductions is due to changes in the operating environment - a challenging household appliances market, declining consumer confidence, rising global costs and high inflation.
Gigantti is part of the Norwegian consumer electronics retailer Elkjøp Nordic, which has operations in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The Finnish branch Gigantti employs 1,500 people and has 40 stores as well as online retail operations and business to business sales.
Update 05/05/2023
Gigantti has concluded the cooperation negotiations. The negotiations resulted in 56 redundancies and reductions in working time for 36 employees. On top of these saving measures, retail staff have had changes in their contractual work descriptions so that they now are to serve the same client in advising on several product categories rather than just one product type.
Eurofound (2023), Gigantti, Internal restructuring in Finland, factsheet number 108631, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/108631.