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.
US technology conglomerate IBM has announced the closure of its backup storage device factory in Vác. The company will concentrate its global storage device production in a single location in Mexico, to enhance efficiency.
The IBM plant in Vác, Hungary, has 448 employees, making it an important employer in the region. The management of IBM states that part of the laid-off personnel will get remote jobs at other IBM subsidiaries, while the number of employees to be offered this opportunity is not yet known. The employees will be informed individually about the timing of their lay-off and the severance package offered to them by the end of August 2023. The severance packages, per consultations with the trade unions and the works council, meet the legal requirements and the industry standard.
Eurofound (2023), IBM Data Storage Systems, Offshoring/Delocalisation in Hungary, factsheet number 109347, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/109347.