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.
Sappi, a South-African multinational company specialised in the production of paper products has announced plans to close its facilities in Lanaken (Belgium) and Stockstadt (Germany), leading to the lay off of around 1194 employees of its EU workforce. The economic downturn and the geopolitical instability in Europe highly affected the company, which faced a significant overcapacity in graphic paper production. Moreover, the increasing input costs exacerbated the situation. Sappi Lanaken Mill and Sappi Stockstadt Mill are integrated pulp and paper mills, employing around 644 and 550 workers in total, respectively.
The related Belgian restructuring event has been recorded in the ERM database: Sappi 2023 - Belgium.
Eurofound (2023), Sappi, Closure in European Union, factsheet number 200528, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/200528.