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.
Van Netten, German confectioner, will make its last 125 employees redundant. This is due to insolvency. Before the end of 2012, Van Netten terminated the contracts of other 93 workers, who nonetheless have not been laid-off yet. For this reason, the company still employs a total amount of 218 people. Job cuts will be implemented by the end of July. The insolvency administrator until now failed to find an investor, but is reported to be engaged in further negotiations.
Update May 2013: the company's insolvency administrator announced that the company will be wound up at the beginning of June. The number of job losses is therefore 218.
Eurofound (2013), van Netten, Bankruptcy in Germany, factsheet number 75348, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/75348.