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.
As confirmed on 18 November 2017, the mechanical engineering company Kuka will be cutting 250 jobs at its site in Augsburg due to internal restructuring. Cuts will be made in the plant engineering division which manufactures parts for the car industry, as various projects in the past have been affected by major difficulties created by over reliance on external suppliers. Hence a reorganisation is necessary: some of the workers could be reallocated to the robots division.
Kuka has started negotiations with the works council regarding the establishment of a social plan.
Kuka has 4,000 employees at its site in Augusburg of which 750 work in the engineering division.
Eurofound (2017), Kuka, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 92524, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/92524.