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.
Beauregard is a luxury watch bracelet SME which employs 45 employees for a turnover of 8.8 million euros in 2021. In 2023, it produced nearly 63,000 watch bracelets at its Couteuges workshops in Haute-Loire. The company is implementing a strategic expansion by creating a new production site near its existing facility in Couteuges. In this new 2,000-square-meter factory, Beauregard will product the in-house the links for the bracelets from raw materials, a step previously outsourced to Italian subcontractors. The relocation decision was driven by challenges in the supply chain caused by the reliance on external suppliers. The new factory is expected to start production in 2024, will emphasize automation, connectivity, and sustainability. The company plans to diversify its activities and sectors beyond watchmaking and anticipates the recruitment of "a few" employees initially, with plans to reach 50 employees in the long term.
Eurofound (2023), Beauregard, Reshoring in France, factsheet number 269, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/269.