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.
Finnish steel and chrome manufacturer, Outokumpu, has announced its plans to dismiss 70 out of all 508 employees. The reason behind the negotiations is the need to restrict production due to the increasing price of electricity, which has prevented the company from restarting one of its three ferrochrome furnaces after a maintenance break. In addition, the high price of electricity undermines the cost competitiveness of the company. All of the employees that are to be dismissed work in the ferrochrome operations.
Cooperation negotiations have been initiated.
Outokumpu employs over 9,000 people worldwide in more than 30 countries. 508 people work in Finland.
In 2020, Outokumpu cut 250 jobs in its production units in Tornio and Kemi (Outokumpu-2020-FI). Further, the company announced its wider plan to cut 900 jobs worldwide due to the impact of COVID-19 (Outokumpu-2020-FI).
Updated, 31/10/2022: Outokumpu has completed the cooperation negotiations. As a result, 52 persons will be laid off from ferrochrome production. The aim is to find employment for them in other operations in Tornio.
Eurofound (2022), Outokumpu , Internal restructuring in Finland, factsheet number 107569, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/107569.