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.
![img text](https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2022-05/ef22038_3.png)
The metal fences and security systems company Betafence announced its intention to close its seat in Tortoreto (Abruzzo) by 2021 and dismiss all the 155 employed workers.
The company is a worldwide exporter and it is part of the English multinational group Praesidiad, owned by the Carlyle fund. The announcement was given by the company's British management during a presentation on the economic situation of the group.
According to the management, the decision is connected to the minor productivity of the site and prospects of a recession in the sector. The trade unions, instead, suggest that the company is planning to offshore to Poland, where labour costs are lower.
The workers started a permanent picketing in front of the company and ask for negotiations on the plan.
Eurofound (2020), Betafence, Closure in Italy, factsheet number 101513, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/101513.