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 German manufacturer Siemens has announced its intention to close the plant producing compressors and gas turbines in Hengelo (east Netherlands), leading in the worst case to the loss of all 640 jobs by the end of 2020. The closure is explained as the effect of the energy transition, leading to the contraction of the oil and gas market and related markets, and is part of the company's global restructuring effort expected to affect some 6,900 employees worldwide.
The closure of the Hengelo site is yet to be agreed on by the works council, and the unions have already announced that they will fight the decision.
Siemens has some 370,000 employees worldwide and is active in a whole range of products, varying from energy, automation technology and construction technology to healthcare.
Eurofound (2017), Siemens, Closure in Netherlands, factsheet number 92703, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/92703.