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.
As announced on 23 February 2024, the German engineering and technology company Bosch will be cutting approximately 450 jobs in its household appliance division BSH in Germany in 2024.
The reduction is part of a larger global restructuring which includes the loss of 3,500 jobs by the end of 2027, with 1,000 of these jobs to be cut in 2024. 450 of those jobs are allocated to Germany. According to a BSH spokesperson, it is not possible to detail the number of jobs to be cut in Germany between 2025 and 2027. Bosch hopes to reduce its costs significantly and become more competitive. BSH has implemented a transformation unit which will prepare affected employees in Germany for internal as well as external job openings.
BSH has approximately 17,000 employees in Germany.
Currently, Bosch is also reducing jobs in its software and electronics division as part of a worldwide reduction Bosch-2024-WO, with 950 employees affected in Germany Bosch-2024-DE. Additionally, Bosch is cutting jobs in its research and development department of the control unit division Bosch-2024-DE as well as in its Power Tool Division in Leinfelden-Echterdingen Bosch-2024-DE.
Eurofound (2024), BSH Haushaltsgeräte, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 200879, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/200879.