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.
Dutch paint manufacturer Akzo Nobel has announced that it will cut about 2,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2025.
So far, the company has revealed that the restructuring programme will affect its headquarters in the Netherlands, but no specific number of jobs to be cut is available as of now.
The layoffs will target head office positions in finance and global business services. This cost-cutting effort is part of the company’s broader ‘industrial transformation’ plan, which aims to save €250 million by 2027. Related to this, plant closures in Ireland, the Netherlands and Zambia were announced in May 2024.
Akzo Nobel, the largest global paints and coating company, employs about 35,700 employees globally.
Eurofound (2024), Akzo Nobel, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 201635, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/201635.