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.
Zeelandia, a bakery supplier from the Netherlands, has announced plans to cut 89 of the 454 jobs in the Netherlands, of which 33 are forced dismissals.
The amount of cut jobs constitutes more than 10% of Zeelandia’s jobs in the Netherlands. The reorganisation was prompted by increased costs, market changes, and a declining demand for Zeelandia's products due to shifting consumer preferences toward supermarkets over artisanal bakeries. A social plan has been decided upon to help the employees whose jobs are cut to find a new workplace.
This is the first reorganisation in the history of the company.
Eurofound (2024), Zeelandia, Internal restructuring in Netherlands, factsheet number 200933, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/200933.