A mess in the most important European company. 1,700 people on the streets

The cuts mainly concern management positions in technology and IT departments, with 1,400 jobs lost in the Netherlands and 300 in the US, representing approximately 4% of ASML’s global workforce. Despite this, in 2025 the company generated record revenues of EUR 32.7 billion and a net profit of EUR 9.6 billion, and forecasts for 2026 call for revenues of EUR 34-39 billion.

According to an ASML spokesman quoted by Dutch broadcaster Omroep Brabant, employees are asking en masse what the cuts mean for them personally, but the company is “not able to answer on an individual level.” This prolonged “suspension” is causing internal anxiety, which the company openly admits.

ASML announced that it wants to finalize the terms of the reorganization by April 1 and offer some managers new engineering positions instead of layoffs. The company declares that it will do “everything to keep the number of layoffs as low as possible”, although it will not be possible to avoid them completely.

However, both major trade unions considered the April 1 deadline unrealistic. FNV negotiator Peter Reniers emphasizes that the company should first carefully identify opportunities for internal redeployment of employees, rather than pushing for a quick agreement. In turn, Rémy Biesmans from CNV speaks directly about the choice between a quick, but potentially wrong solution and a slower process that will actually protect employees, emphasizing that the goal of unions is to avoid forced layoffs.

Interestingly, the reductions go hand in hand with ambitious expansion plans. On March 11, Eindhoven city council approved a rezoning that allows ASML to build a second campus on the Brainport Industries Campus at Eindhoven Airport.

The new complex is to accommodate up to 20,000 employees – a number similar to the company’s current employment in the Netherlands (approx. 23,000 people), and the first 5,000 people are to move there at the beginning of 2028. At the same time, China’s share in ASML’s revenues is expected to drop from 33% in 2025 to approximately 20% in 2026 as a result of American restrictions on the export of cutting-edge EUV machines.

For the global leader in lithography equipment, this means trying to reconcile three conflicting forces: record financial results, geopolitical pressure and the need to slim down the management structure – at the expense of thousands of people who still do not know what their future will be in the company.