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 bio-sourced chemistry company Alpha Chitin has announced the recruitment of 150 employees within four years for its new production site located in Lacq (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). The plant is going to be ready in summer 2022 and it is producing chitosan, a molecule that is very useful in the health sector for the production of vaccines, certain medical implants or for cosmetics. About twenty jobs are being created for the plant's start-up. The workforce should then increase to 150 employees within four years. The State provided Alpha Chitin with a budget of 925,000 euros to boost its R & D, as part of the recovery plan. Through this, the development process has been accelerated. The company has developed a very innovative industrial process, by which chitosan is extracted from fly larvae, shrimp shells (krill) and a specific fungus. It is the only one to produce these molecules in Europe, and its ambition is to become the reference producer of these molecules, since China has reduced its exports. Alpha Chitin should be able to produce 2,000 tonnes of chitosan per year within 4 years.
Eurofound (2021), Alpha Chitin, Business expansion in France, factsheet number 105454, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/105454.