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 Lille has decided the liquidation of the Dutch company MS Mode, a Dutch chain of clothing stores, and agreed the take over of some of its stores. About 420 employees will be dismissed. The company was declared in receivership on 17 October and has been looking for potential buyers ever since. The chain has about 134 stores in France. 19 will be take over by the group ÏDKids under its brands Okaïdi and Oxybul. The brand Christine Laure will take over two stores. The Dutch group was declared bankrupt last August. Since then, the company has dismissed employees in the Netherlands (935) and in Belgium (220). Several large restructuring in the clothing retail sector in France were recently recorded: Grain de Malice (177 job cuts announced in November 2016); Movitex (165 job cuts announced in May 2016); Promod (133 job cuts announced in April 2016) and Vivarte (1481 job cuts announced in April 2015). Different reasons explain this situation : a bad economic situation in France, unfavourable weather the last years, increased internet sales and the sharp competition with new brands such as Primark, that has opened its tenth store in France this month (December).
Eurofound (2016), MS Mode France, Bankruptcy in France, factsheet number 89677, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/89677.