ASML to cut 1,700 roles
- ASML announced plans to cut about 1,700 jobs as part of a reorganisation to reduce complexity. - Reports single out management and complexity-reducing roles as most exposed in the restructure. - The market appears to reward managers who create clarity and reduce complexity, making redundant layers vulnerable. (livemint.com)
ASML is cutting up to 1,700 jobs as it rewires parts of the company to strip out layers it says are slowing engineers down. (asml.com) The Dutch chip-equipment company said on January 28 that it would streamline its Technology and Information Technology groups and move many engineers out of project-style matrix structures and onto specific products and modules. ASML said some roles, “mainly at the leadership level,” may no longer be needed. (asml.com) Internal documents later reported by Business Insider and cited by Mint said the cuts would fall heavily on management and coordination jobs, including department managers, group leaders, project leads, product owners and scrum masters. Mint said ASML also planned a six-week summer hiring freeze and reduced the expected U.S. impact to 185 roles from 300. (livemint.com) This is a reorganisation at a company that is still growing. ASML reported more than 44,000 employees in its 2025 annual report, then said some affected staff could move into about 1,400 new engineering jobs tied to existing and new technology projects. (asml.com, livemint.com) ASML occupies an unusual spot in the chip industry because it is the only company making extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, lithography systems at scale. Those machines are used by chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Intel to print the tiny features needed for advanced processors. (livemint.com, asml.com) The company is making these cuts after a record year. ASML reported €32.7 billion in 2025 net sales, €9.6 billion in net income and a year-end backlog of €38.8 billion, then posted €8.8 billion in first-quarter 2026 net sales on April 15. (asml.com, asml.com) Chief Executive Christophe Fouquet told employees that rapid growth had made parts of ASML less agile, and the company said feedback from staff, suppliers and customers showed engineers were being held back by slow process flows. The stated fix is simpler reporting lines and more direct ownership of products. (asml.com) That leaves ASML trying to do two things at once: keep hiring for hard-to-fill engineering work while removing management layers built during its expansion. The company’s opening line on the overhaul was that it wants to “strengthen focus on engineering and innovation,” and the next test is whether that produces faster execution without disrupting deliveries. (asml.com, asml.com)
