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 Mulliez family group, which owns the Jules, Brice and Bizzbee menswear brands, announced it will close 88 stores in France and cut 466 jobs by 2021 to cope with a 10% drop in sales. The Brice warehouse located in Le Mans (Sarthe) is due to close in December 2019, which will lead to 40 job cuts. The group plans "a merger of the companies Jules, Brice, Happychic Services, Happychic production and Happychic store" by 30 June 2019. It will then deploy "a single brand on the entire new network ". The group had already announced, in February 2018, the closure of 13 stores of Jules, Brice and Bizzbee brands by the end of 2018.
Happychic has 740 stores in 17 countries, a turnover of €720 million and 4000 employees, including 2600 employees in France.
Eurofound (2018), Happychic, Internal restructuring in France, factsheet number 94662, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/94662.