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.
Bayer France, part of the German Bayer Group, a multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, is cutting a net total of 152 jobs. This move is part of a broader global plan aimed at reducing costs and bureaucracy, which includes 400 job cuts worldwide, with 246 in France and 94 new positions being created.
Voluntary departures will occur until around June 2025, followed by layoffs. The cuts notably impact all sectors, especially factories in Villefranche-sur-Saône, Marle-sur-Serre, Trèbes, and a research centre in Gaillard. The group's interunion comprised of the CFDT, the CGT, and FO, raised criticism over the global plan's implementation in France, which seems to only affect operational workers, instead of management like in Germany. They have currently refused to sign a preliminary agreement.
In 2023, Bayer employed 99,723 people globally. As of 2022, Bayer workforce in France was of 2 ,962.The company has undergone several internal restructurings, recorded in the European Restructuring Monitor database.
Eurofound (2024), Bayer France, Internal restructuring in France, factsheet number 201799, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/201799.