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.
Home & Cottage, a Norwegian furniture and interior retail chain, has filed for bankruptcy. Around 165 employees will be affected as the retailer closes its 14 stores. The comany completed a reconstruction in June 2024, which entailed raising new equity, creditors losses, the closure of several stores and its central warehouse. This restructuring ultimately proved insufficient to save the company, which has since struggled with delays in restocking inventory, as well as increased freight costs and unfavorable exchange rates.
Founded 15 years ago, Home & Cottage expanded to become a notable retail chain in Norway, but struggled with profitability, reporting losses in all but three years of its operation, with accumulated losses totalling more than 200 million NOK.
Eurofound (2025), Home & Cottage, Bankruptcy in Norway, factsheet number 202185, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/202185.