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.
Finnish manufacturer of roofs for cabriolets Valmet will close its production plant in Osnabrück by 2017 which will make 230 out of 330 employees redundant. As announced on 2 June 2014, production shall be relocated to the company’s plant in Zary (Poland). According to the company, the job cuts are due to a declining demand in the cabriolet market.
In 2010, Valmet acquired the plant in Osnabrück from insolvent German manufacturer Karmann. According to the management, 100 of the around 330 jobs in Osnabrück shall be sustained in the departments of development, construction of prototypes and sales. The trade union IG Metall fears that the plant closure might take place prior to 2017.
In 2013, Valmet had already cut 80 jobs in Osnabrück. Valmet operates across 30 countries and currently employs around 11,000 people.
Eurofound (2014), Valmet, Offshoring/Delocalisation in Germany, factsheet number 77293, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/77293.