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.
The furniture manufacturer Swedwood Romania, owned by the major global furniture retailer, Swedish group Ikea, will open a new furniture panels factory in Suceava county (Nord-Est region), cresting 350 new jobs in the process. The estimated output of the new factory is 40,000 panels per year. The investment is estimated to reach up to €35 million , with the final value depending on the price of land acquisition.
'According to our forecast, the investment is to be finalised by 2007. We are currently negotiating the acquisition price of the land. We have been discussing with local and county authorities, and will shortly decide on the exact location in the county of Suceava', declared the general manager of Swedwood Romania.
The group owns a furniture factory at Siret (Nord-Est region, Suceava county) manufacturing panel furniture, with the entire output exported to Ikea stores around the world. The construction of the factory was finalised in 1999, with a total investment of around €12 million.
Swedwood Romania reported a turnover for 2004 of around €15.6 million, 25% higher than in 2003.
Swedwood Romania is part of Swedwood International, established in 1991, and manufactures furniture for Ikea. Swedwood International has over 9,500 employees in 33 companies across 11 countries. So far, the Swedish group Ikea, with an annual turnover of €13 billion, has not invested in the retail sector in Romania.
Eurofound (2005), Swedwood Romania, Business expansion in Romania, factsheet number 62428, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/62428.