ASML Cuts 1,700 Jobs Despite Record Profits to Fight Corporate Bloat

Veldhoven, Saturday, 14 March 2026.
Dutch semiconductor giant ASML eliminated 1,700 positions in January 2026 after earning €10 billion in profits, with Technical Director Marco Pieters declaring the company had become ‘sluggish’ and wasteful. The restructuring affects 4,500 managers who must reapply for positions as ASML streamlines its 16,000-person engineering division. Pieters admits the company lost efficiency through excessive meetings and bureaucratic processes during rapid growth, contradicting typical corporate logic of hiring during boom periods.