ASML plans to cut 1,700 jobs after feedback that it's too complex

ASML plans to cut 1,700 jobs after feedback that it's too complex

• ASML to cut 1,700 jobs, mainly in IT and tech management roles
• Job cuts aim to reduce bureaucracy and boost efficiency
• ASML plans new engineering and support roles, plus a second campus in Eindhoven

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ASML Holding NV said it will cut about 1,700 jobs in the middle of a sales boom after feedback that the Dutch chip-machine maker is too bureaucratic.

The reductions, amounting to about 4% of staff, will largely affect managerial positions in ASML’s IT and tech departments, Chief Executive Officer Christophe Fouquet said in a statement on Wednesday as part of the company’s fourth-quarter financial results. Most of the cuts will be in the Netherlands with other job reductions in the US.

Customers and employees told the Dutch company that it was getting too complex and risked becoming inefficient, Chief Financial Officer Roger Dassen said in a call with reporters. “We want to make sure engineers can be engineers again.” Dassen said it was the first workforce reduction at this scale in “many years” and the company declined to be more specific.

ASML’s shares gained 4.3% to €1,269.80 at 10:36 a.m. in Amsterdam. The stock earlier rose as much as 7.5% to a record after the company reported bookings in the fourth quarter that were far better than analysts’ expectations and forecast sales would continue to grow in 2026.

The cuts contrast with ASML’s robust outlook. The company’s customers, the world’s biggest chipmakers, are optimistic about continued AI-related demand and expanding capacity, stoking ASML’s orders in turn. ASML is the only producer of cutting-edge lithography machines that are needed to make advanced semiconductors, and has benefited from the hundreds of billions of dollars pouring into artificial intelligence infrastructure.

“We are doing great, and we are very happy with that, but even a great company needs to improve,” said Fouquet in an interview with Bloomberg TV, adding that the company wanted to be more “agile.”

In its Technology segment, ASML said it is proposing to shift to a setup where most engineers will be dedicated to a specific product and module.

It will also create new engineering jobs, as well as roles in manufacturing, customer support and sales.

ASML is planning a second campus in Eindhoven, in line with customer demand. It intends to develop an area about five miles away from its Veldhoven headquarters with capacity for 20,000 staff, ASML had said. The first phase of the expansion is expected to be completed by 2028.