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 Swedish state-owned energy company Vattenfall will be cutting 600 jobs in Germany by 2020. Last year, Vattenfall sold its German lignite assets (brown coal) and had already announced it would decrease the number of employees. The company plans to save €200 million in order to stay competitive and make room for more investment. Cuts will mainly take place in Berlin and Hamburg, but the exact distribution of job cuts has yet to be published.
The United Services Union Verd.i announced that it strongly opposes these plans.
All in all, Vattenfall will be cutting 1,500 jobs in Europe.
As of March 2018, Vattenfall has 20,000 employees worldwide.
Eurofound (2018), Vattenfall, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 93631, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/93631.