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.
Valsan, a manufacturer of metal components, has announced its closure in Perosinho (Vila Nova de Gaia) due to lack of financial viability, in spite of the financial support and capital injection of 2.5 million euros received from the government since 2001. This closure will result in the dismissal of 200 workers, some of them with over 40 years of job tenure. Some 30% of the wages from last October are still to be paid, as well as part of the holiday pay.
The Trade Union of Workers in Manufacturing Industry, Energy and Environmental Activities of the North mentioned that Valsan's workers have been promised that a meeting with the Agency for Investment and External Trade (Agência para o Investimento e Comércio Externo) will be held in order to discuss possible interventions to reduce the social impact of the closure. The closure of the company will penalize a region already affected by the economic crisis.
Eurofound (2010), Valsan, Closure in Portugal, factsheet number 71240, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/71240.