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.
Eta Cerkno, a producer of electrothermal apparatus and hot plates for electrical kitchen in particular, is going to lay off 100 workers. Karlheinz Hörsting, a representative of the Swiss group E.G.O. which owns the company, announced a partial delocalization of production to Zagreb in Croatia. The reasons for the delocalization are delivery problems, high uncompetitive production and administrative costs. The management assured that the closing of the factory is not foreseen. E.G.O. group plans new investments into Eta Cerkno in the amount of €2.1 million in 2018 and some production departments in the factory in Oberderding will be moved to Eta Cerkno. Workers said that the delivery problems were caused by the lack of workforce. Among 100 workers 70 are regular and 30 fixed-term employees.
Eurofound (2017), Eta Cerkno, Offshoring/Delocalisation in Slovenia, factsheet number 92610, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/92610.