Employees at ASML still don't know whether they will lose their jobs, some seven weeks after the Dutch chip equipment maker announced plans to cut 1,700 management roles alongside record full-year revenue of €32.7 billion. The prolonged uncertainty is generating significant internal friction, leaving thousands of workers in limbo as management and unions remain deadlocked over the restructure's scope and timeline.
The prolonged uncertainty is generating internal unrest, according to an ASML spokesperson who spoke to Dutch broadcaster Omroep Brabant. "People simply don't know where they stand. 'What does this mean for me?' they ask," the spokesperson said. "We can't answer that question on an individual level right now. It's a very difficult situation for everyone, and it's causing unrest, and we completely understand that."
The cuts target management positions in ASML's technology and IT departments, with 1,400 roles going in the Netherlands and 300 in the United States, representing roughly 4% of the company's global workforce. The layoffs will primarily impact leadership level roles across the company's technology and IT teams, ASML said. At the same time, in an effort to boost its engineering capabilities, the firm plans to create new engineering jobs, although it did not specify how many.
The rationale, according to management, centres on reducing bureaucratic overhead. ASML Chief Financial Officer Roger Dassen told reporters that the company received feedback indicating its organisational structure had become excessively complex, causing employees to spend excessive time on process coordination. He emphasized: "We want to let engineers return to pure engineering work."
What makes this restructure contentious is the apparent contradiction between cutting jobs and expansion plans. Eindhoven's city council approved a zoning plan amendment on March 11 that allows ASML to begin construction of a second campus at the Brainport Industries Campus near Eindhoven Airport, a site intended to accommodate 20,000 new employees. That's nearly double the company's current Dutch headcount of around 23,000, and the first 5,000 workers are expected to move in by early 2028.
Dutch unions have seized on this inconsistency. The trade unions feel the company is trying to rush a reorganisation, which they deem unnecessary to start with, given ASML's plans to recruit 20,000 new workers in the coming years. An agreement by April 1 is "unrealistic," FNV negotiator Peter Reniers told the broadcaster. "We still believe that the reorganisation doesn't need to be carried out this way. There's no need to do this abruptly now. See where you can redeploy people within your organisation and take your time."
For those watching from the Australian perspective, this moment matters. The move matters because ASML sits at the choke point of the advanced chip supply chain. Its machines are needed to make leading-edge chips, and chipmakers are spending again to meet demand tied to artificial intelligence. A protracted dispute at ASML could ripple through global semiconductor supply chains at a time when advanced chip capacity remains scarce.
The broader question is whether ASML's approach represents prudent management or an overreach. The announcement was made alongside the Dutch chipmaking equipment company's Q4 2025 and full-year 2025 financial results, which saw ASML post net sales of €9.7 billion for the quarter and €32.7bn for the year. Net income for FY2025 was €9.6bn. These figures suggest a company operating at considerable strength. Yet the cuts, as ASML frames them, are about preventing future inefficiency rather than addressing current crisis. That distinction matters to employees waiting for clarity, and to the unions arguing the company should take time to avoid unnecessary permanent departures.