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.
Finnish producer of stainless steel Outokumpu will cut up to 1300 jobs globally until the end of 2012. The jobs will be foremost lost in Finland (up to 300 jobs) and Sweden (up to 600 jobs at plants in Torshälla, Avesta and Långhyttan amongst others). Other jobs will be cut throughout Europe by reducing the number of local stocking operations. The redundancies are part of an internal restructuring plan which aims to reduce costs by EUR 100 million by the end of 2012.
Outokumpu has plants in Finland (Tornio, Kemi), Sweden (Avesta, Nyby, Kloster and Degerfors), the UK (Sheffield) and the US (New Castle). The company maintains additional stocking operations in more than 20 countries.
Outokumpu employs close to 8 000 people. The company is operating in a tough business environment, facing worldwide overcapacity of production and increasing European imports of stainless steel. This is reported to push Outokumpu towards a number of cost cutting decisions, notably reducing the number of production shifts at its Swedish plants in Avesta, Nyby, and Kloster. Outokumpu also restructures its organisation and will rely more on outsourcing support functions.
Eurofound (2011), Outokumpu, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 72671, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/72671.