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 Finnish paper and forestry company Stora Enso has announced the closure of its factory in Eerbeek, the Netherlands. This means that all 185 employees will lose their jobs. According to Stora Enso, the paper mill in Eerbeek must close to save costs and because of overcapacity in the European corrugated board market. The planned closure is part of a larger reorganisation at Stora Enso. Plants in Finland, Poland and Estonia are also to close. A total of 1150 jobs will disappear.
The closure would take place during the fourth quarter of 2023. Stora Enso says in a statement that the measures would not be proposed if they were not absolutely necessary for the company's long-term competitiveness.
Stora Enso's explanation that the closure is due to poor figures in the past year and high procurement costs does not go down well with the trade unions involved. They called the closure "outrageous".
Stora Enso is a Finnish-based multinational company with around 23,000 employees worldwide.
Eurofound (2023), Stora Enso, Closure in Netherlands, factsheet number 109189, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/109189.