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 online retailer Zalando announced it will cut 200 to 250 jobs in its marketing department in Berlin. Zalando intends to introduce more algorithms, which will replace the work humans did in the past. Affected employees will be offered jobs in different departments or a cancellation agreement.
Despite these cuts, Zalando also plans to create 2,000 new jobs in Germany this year. Hiring will mainly take place in Berlin — the exact distribution of positions, however, has yet to be announced. Zalando is actively looking for new developers and data analysts, to be able to adapt to the marketing of the future.
Currently, Zalando has 15,000 employees worldwide.
Eurofound (2018), Zalando, Business expansion in Germany, factsheet number 93572, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/93572.