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.
Vilniaus Vingis (VV) is one of the biggest manufacturers of electronic components in Europe. The company holds the 1st place in sales of the deflection yokes in Europe. However, since the beginning of 2005 it becomes more and more difficult to compete with Chinese products; several main partners of the VV were closed or were hardly hit by the new market situation. This resulted in the decline of the outputs of VV. Since the beginning of 2005 the number of VV employees were reduced from 2,000 to 1,300. During this period approximately 700 employees (mostly engaged in the main activity — production of the deflection yokes) were dismissed by mutual agreement. The wave of dismissals fell on the spring and summer periods — according to the information provided by the HR department of the VV, from 1 April till 31 August, 668 employees were fired. Currently VV is operating in the numbers of its other activities, declaring insignificant lack of approximately 100 employees and searching for the paths to survive in the global market.
Eurofound (2005), Vilniaus Vingis, Internal restructuring in Lithuania, factsheet number 62494, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/62494.