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 group Tessenderlo has announced a restructuring plan in order to improve the profitability of its principal division, the chemicals unit. The second largest employer in the Province of Limbourg says this move is necessary because of rapidly changing market conditions, increased international competition and the high price of the raw materials.
In practical terms it will mean a loss of 240 jobs in Europe, of which 197 will be in Limbourg, where the group currently employs 1,419 people (out of a total of 2,169 in Belgium). The group Tessenderlo explicitly states that it has no intention to transfer its activities to low-wage countries.
Eurofound (2006), Tessenderlo, Internal restructuring in European Union, factsheet number 63685, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/63685.