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.
Haupt Pharma, a developer and manufacturer of pharmaceutical products and food supplements and a subsidiary of the Aenova Group, announced 300 jobs cuts. The closure of the Wolfrathshausen site was announced by the company on 1 March 2023 and will be implemented by the end of 2023.
The reason for the closure is a restructuring programme, as a result of which the Wolfratshausen site will be closed, as a comprehensive renovation would be necessary to comply with additional official requirements, which, according to the company, would not be economically viable. All 300 jobs at the site are affected by the closure. According to the company, negotiations with the works council on a social plan have already begun.
The Aenova Group is headquartered near Munich and has 15 production sites, several sales offices and more than 4,300 employees worldwide in Europe, the USA, Asia and Australia.
Eurofound (2023), Haupt Pharma, Closure in Germany, factsheet number 108751, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/108751.