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.
Ergo, a subsidiary of the German reinsurer Munich Re, has announced plans to reduce its workforce in Germany by around 1,000 positions by 2030. The restructuring will affect employees nationwide, with the company aiming to cut roughly 200 jobs per year until 2030.
The restructuring is intended to expand the use of artificial intelligence and lower operating costs as part of Munich Re’s broader savings programme, which targets annual cost reductions of €600 million by 2030. The company has agreed with employee representatives that the job cuts are to be implemented through natural attrition, early‑retirement schemes and severance programmes.
In addition, the company has created 500 reskilling positions, 260 of which will already be available this year, to prepare employees for new, AI‑related roles.
Ergo employs roughly 15,000 people in Germany. The planned cuts amount to around 6% of its domestic workforce.
Eurofound (2026), Ergo, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 204268, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/204268.