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.
Pergo (Europe), manufacturer of laminate and vinyl flooring, is to let go of 150 workers in Trelleborg and Perstorp due to the offshoring of the production to Belgium.
In mid-January 2013, American laminate flooring manufacturer Unilin became sole owner of Pergo and soon announced that the production at the sites in Trelleborg and Perstorp will be offshored to Belgium. However, a Nordic head office with a service and distribution centre will be set up in Trelleborg.
A very limited number of laid off workers will be offered to transfer to Belgium. Negotiations with the unions will be initiated shortly.
Pergo (Europe) is a subsidiary of the Swiss company Pergo, recently acquired by American Unilin. Unilin in turn is a subsidiary of American Mohawk Industries with 26,000 employees and one of the world’s leading manufacturers of flooring.
Eurofound (2013), Pergo, Offshoring/Delocalisation in Sweden, factsheet number 74849, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/74849.