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.
Monbento is a French company established in 2006, and producing plastic lunch boxes. Since 2009, the company decided to outsource production to Chinese suppliers since the low labor cost. However, the cost gap with France has been reduced over the years; therefore, in 2017 the company decided to relocalize production in France, and establish a contract manufacturing agreement with a supplier in Clermont-Ferrand. After the relocation, the final price increased by only 10%.
Eurofound (2017), Monbento, Reshoring in France, factsheet number 45, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/45.