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 bank Handelsbanken has announced 800 job cuts, mainly in Germany, Sweden and Asia by 2022 with the aim to save costs. The bank aims to reduce costs after criticism of its spending on digital services and expansion abroad. It has also invested heavily in compliance to fight financial crime and money laundering. The bank plans to cut annual spending by about 1.5 billion crowns (€143 million). The CEO of Handelsbanken, comments that the bank will maintain its existing network of bank offices in Sweden, and that the changes mean that Handelsbanken will discontinue operations in Asia and Germany, while centralising foreign operations to the offices in Luxembourg and New York.
Eurofound (2019), Handelsbanken, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 99297, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/99297.