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.
Bosch Rodez, the French automobile equipment supplier unit owned by the German group Bosch, has presented to its works council a restructuring plan that will likely lead to a reduction of jobs. The CEO refused to give data because there are still negotiations on issues such as the number of redundancies. According to the trade unions, the factory in Rodez (south western France), that employs 2,300 people, could lose 700 jobs between January and December 2009.
The restructuring plan is linked to the decision of Volkswagen to stop its orders of injection pumps for cars, which are mainly manufactured by Bosch Rodez, in 2009. According to the trade unions, the decision of Bosch Rodez would be the continuation of the plan of internal reorganisation which was announced in other units of the Bosch group.
Eurofound (2006), Bosch, Internal restructuring in France, factsheet number 64111, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/64111.