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.
Swedish electric car manufacturer Polestar has announced that it will cut 450 jobs worldwide, including 250 positions in Sweden.
So far, the company announced a restructuring programme in Sweden where about 250 white-collar positions are expected to be cut in the city of Gothenburg. The conditions of the programme will be negotiated with employee representatives according to local regulations. The negotiations are expected to be finalised in June 2024.
The layoffs are part of a global restructuring, where Polestar plans to reduce its workforce by 15%. The background to the decision is the continued challenging global economic situation. The automaker points out that the anticipated growth in electric vehicles has been slow due to low demand. The company is to adjust the size of its business and operations to maintain profitability.
Polestar has about 3,000 employees worldwide. The recent restructuring event in Sweden has been recorded in the ERM events database Polestar Performance-2024-SE.
Eurofound (2024), Polestar, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 200744, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/200744.