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.
On 10 December 2016, German mobile communications manufacturer Kathrein announced 160 job cuts in Rosenheim as the company seeks to optimise its cost and organisational structure. At the same time, the company also seeks to access new markets abroad and to branch out into new business fields.The job cuts will be implemented within the following months.
These plans are in addition to 300 jobs cuts at the company's headquarters in Rosenheim, first announced in September 2015, and the closure in Nördlingen (Kathrein, 2015).
Kathrein was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Rosenheim. Currently, about 9,000 employees are working for Kathrein worldwide.
Update:
On 4 May 2017, Kathrein announced that the figure of the planned 160 job cuts will be increased to 280 but the company ruled out compulsory redundancies. Kathrein wants to implement the job cuts through a voluntary programme. Besides Rosenheim the nearby site in Rohrdorf is also affected by the job reduction measures.
Eurofound (2016), Kathrein, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 89436, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/89436.