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.
Thomas Cook, a British-based multinational travel agency has announced the closure of its Belgian branches following difficulties at the transnational level of the group, where unsustainable debts had accumulated. The group is in part a victim of the declining appetite amongst consumers for package holidays. All 575 employees in Belgium are facing job loss after the branch was officially declared bankrupt - 230 employees at the company headquarters, 270 at the local offices and 75 employees at other Belgian affiliates. Local company management initially tried to raise funding (5 million euro) in order to relaunch the company but these efforts ultimately failed
The Dutch branch of the company announced bankruptcy on the same day (30 September) resulting in 200 jobs lost.
Eurofound (2019), Thomas Cook, Bankruptcy in Belgium, factsheet number 98720, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/98720.