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.
Swedish manufacturer of trucks, Volvo Trucks, is increasing its production volume and will expand production capacity with 300-500 new positions. The expansion is in response to an increasing demand from the European market, and Volvo Trucks plans to increase its production volume from 60-75 trucks per day to 105 trucks per day. The local union representative is positive and hopes that some of the workers who currently have temporary contracts will get permanent contracts as a part of the expansion.
The Volvo Trucks factory in Tuve, Göteborg currently has 1,100 employees. Volvo Cars has 17,500 employees in Göteborg.
Volvo cars, also part of the Volvo Group, have also been expanding in Gothenburg, Sweden, and created 1,500 new positions during the spring of 2015. Volvo Trucks previously cut 350 positions at its factory in Umeå, Sweden following relocation of production to Tuve, Göteborg.
Update 08/08/2016:Volvo presented an unexpected high profit for the second quarter this year and will expand production capacity in Tuve with 400-500 new employees. At the same time 300 employees will be made redundant by Volvo in North America in order to achieve a better balance between production levels in different regions.
Eurofound (2016), Volvo Trucks, Business expansion in Sweden, factsheet number 87716, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/87716.