‘Fucking Christmas or Merry Christmas’: Philips layoffs cause uncertainty

“It’s bad news, especially for those it affects,” says a woman in a Philips sweater. “We do not yet know who is involved and whether they are also people of ours. I have been working at Philips for 32 years and hope to be able to continue for a few more years.”

Another employee already knows that she will be fired. “I will no longer have a job here as of December 31. My job will end after 23 years and that feels very bad. But it is in the company’s interest,” said the woman. “It is very sour, especially for colleagues who have sometimes been working here for much longer, that our jobs are disappearing.

black day
Philips will cut 4,000 jobs worldwide due to continued poor results. In the Netherlands 800 jobs will disappear and that will lead to 400 redundancies. In total there are 11,000 jobs in the Netherlands and 79,000 people work at Philips worldwide. “It is always a black day when you hear that 400 employees of Philips have to be forced to say goodbye,” said CNV trade union director Arjan Huizinga this morning in the NOS Radio 1 Journaal.

“The wave of layoffs is not unexpected,” says an employee at the gate. “When the new Philips CEO Roy Jacobs took office, he said that tough measures must be taken. Of course that means that there will be layoffs.” Many employees received the news of the wave of layoffs via email on Monday morning.

Number of reorganizations
“I do think it is necessary for people to go out,” said a man who works in the Development Department. “I’ve survived several reorganizations and have been working here for 20 years. We don’t know, so it could be a shitty Christmas for some and a merry Christmas for others. During a previous reorganization, we’ve had all of us allowed to stay, so That’s what we hope for now.”