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.
The commercial court of Laval has decided to confirm the liquidation of the office furniture manufacturer, Arféo-Buroform, which employs 220 employees: 125 at Château-Gontier (Mayenne) and 95 at Valdivienne (Vienne). The court has given a three weeks delay to find a buyer to take it over. The Court decided that the site was to be closed on 08 January 2015 following a failure of management to find a new buyer. The company had been placed in receivership on 30 October 2014, but there were no buyers. The reluctance in investing in furniture manufacturers is due to a sharp decrease in the market for office furniture in recent years. In 2012, Arféo-Buroform has also been liquidated, but the employers took over the company. In January 2013, in the framework of a cooperative company with financial support of public authorities, the new owners (170 employees) expected a turn-over of 35 million euro, but they reached only 17 million by the end of 2013 and they estimate only 20 million in 2014.
Eurofound (2014), Arféo Buroform, Bankruptcy in France, factsheet number 78024, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/78024.