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.
Desenvolvimento, Maquinagem e Montagem (DMM), a Portuguese manufacturer of injection castings for the automotive industry, has been declared insolvent causing the layoff of 52 workers.
The company is part of the Schmidt Light Metal (SLM) group that was officially declared insolvent at the end of March. Previous financing struggles of the SLM group led to discussions with unions about a possible liquidation of the group's companies including DMM. By filing for insolvency the group hoped to avoid defaulting on its debt. Conversely, the group was able to negotiate a Management Buy-Out restructuring part of its debt and recovering 139 workers of the initial 191 to be laid off from DMM.
The SLM group including DMM has been operating in Portugal since 1989. It plays a key role in Portugal's automotive industry with its castings being present in 20% of cars produced in Europe.
Eurofound (2025), Desenvolvimento, Maquinagem e Montagem , Bankruptcy in Portugal, factsheet number 203400, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/203400.