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 Danish windmill manufacturer, Vestas, announced 28 April that 1,275 employees in Denmark will be made redundant. 935 employees in Vestas Blades in Naksov and Lem will be affected. The rest will be divided between departments in Viborg, Ringkøbing and Hammel. In total Vestas noticed 1900 layoffs in Europe besides Denmark including UK.
Vestas is a forerunner in Danish industry because it was the first to develop sustainable windmill energy and export their mills to the rest of the world. The redundancies were met with criticism from diffrent sides. Most notable was the reaction from the CEO of Vestas. He stated that the crisis in Vestas is not a crisis in demands; it is a crisis in financing. He critised the government for not having made easier access to financing for Vestas and its customers. The current government stopped the rapid expansion of production of windmills in Denmark when it took office in 2001. Nine out of ten Vestas mills is now sold abroad. The opposition and the press claimed that the leading position of Denmark in the windmill production is in danger if new investmensts are not made. The unions proposed that the government builds 1,200 new windmills in Denmark.
As reported, Denmark has applied for assistance from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF).
Eurofound (2009), Vestas Wind Systems, Internal restructuring in Denmark, factsheet number 68825, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/68825.