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.
German mobile home manufacturer Hymer, a leading manufacturer of leisure time vehicles, is to cut 350 out of 3,200 jobs worldwide. Out of these, 250 jobs will be cut in Germany. There is no information on where the remaining 100 jobs will be lost. Hymer holds affiliates in Italy, France and Switzerland. According to company information, the company will provide compensation and retirement schemes for job resigners, but also plans for direct dismissals.
According to chair Hermann Pfaff, the sector has never seen in such a crisis before. Sales declined by 18% in the first quarter of the running business year. Sales had been up to plus 5% in the first eigth months of the previous year.
Eurofound (2009), Hymer, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 67845, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/67845.