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.
Mechanical engineering company, PPS Group in Detva announced the dismissal of 180 employees by the end of 2012. The job cuts affect both blue and white collar workers.
According to the President of local metal unions, Stanislav Lipták, the redundancies are attributed to the decrease in customer orders. The management and the unions will negotiate the terms and the selection of redundant employees.
The company currently employs 1450 people, 1189 of which are permanent employees. The dismissals will affect primarily agency and contract workers. The management has reiterated that the size of the workforce has always depended on the volume of orders, and when there is an increase, they intend to re-employ the workers, as it happened in the past. In 2008 the number of employees fell to 560 but the company gradually increased the workforce when more orders were received.
Eurofound (2012), PPS Group, Internal restructuring in Slovakia, factsheet number 74528, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/74528.