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.
In June 2023 EXELDIST announced an ERE (labour force adjustment plan) of contract termination as part of its insolvency. As a result, 300 workers, mostly women, who make up the Hiperxel staff team will be left without work due to the closure of the shops. At the end of April 2023, the company had already filed for voluntary insolvency proceedings in the Mercantile Court of Vigo, due to the critical economic situation that the company had been in over the last few months, with supply problems and four months of salary debts owed to the staff. The staff had previously called a strike, due to the payment problems they were suffering. XELDIST is a company in Galicia (Spain) that operates the Hiperxel (brand name) frozen food retail chain, which has several shops in that region.
Eurofound (2023), Xeldist, Bankruptcy in Spain, factsheet number 109167, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/109167.