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.
Nycomed and Takeda, a Swiss and a Japanese pharmaceutical company have merged. As a consequence 294 jobs will be cut in Italy.
In particular, Nycomed announced 124 job cuts out of 219, with the closure of the Milan site, and Takeda announced 170 job cuts out of 545. At the beginning of September the company and the trade unions have started the negotiations on the reorganisation plan. The company has announced to be open to reduction of the redundancies by 10%, while the trade unions have proposed the Wage Guarantee Fund schemes and “solidarity agreements” in order to avoid the job losses. Moreover the pharmaceutical company workers went on strike on 21st and 22nd of September.
Eurofound (2012), Nycomed-Takeda, Merger/Acquisition in Italy, factsheet number 74173, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/74173.