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 multinational Italian tyre manufacturer, Pirelli, has decided to close its factory in Manresa (Barcelona) at the end of this year and to dismiss a total of 560 employees. Pirelli's plans have changed in just over a year, from promising the construction of a new factory in the outskirts of the urban area of Manresa, to presenting a redundancy dismissal procedure and announcing its subsequent closure. Pirelli, this January, agreed on a redundancy dismissal procedure for 257 employees which included compensation for 55 days a year for a maximum of 51 months and one hundred early retirements for employees over 57. Additionally, a period of voluntary redundancy was initiated. The company promised to maintain these conditions for the next six years if another labour adjustment was presented. See: http:https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/66900
Pirelli has finally presented the Redundancy Procedure before the Labour Department, which is to affect the totality of the Manresa tire plant, currently employing about 500 employees. Dismissals will take place gradually, according to that confirmed by the Works Council of the Manresa factory. With presentation of the procedure, the Italian multinational carries out that announced last year, in that by the end of 2009 it will no longer be producing tires at the Manresa plant, although the plant will remain open for other functions, with the company's Works Council marking-out the objective of negotiating this redundancy procedure under the best possible conditions. The current procedure is to affect 491 workers and the company's intention is to dismiss 70 persons in October, 391 in December and the remaining 30 in March of 2010. 170 workers have been dismissed from Pirelli Manresa since the past month of February under voluntary redundancy modalities.
Eurofound (2009), Pirelli, Closure in Spain, factsheet number 68550, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/68550.