Opposing the Restructuring Layoff Plan! Over 1,000 ASML Employees Strike

2026-03-25

On March 24, 2025, Dutch semiconductor equipment company ASML witnessed a large-scale employee protest action at its headquarters in Veldhoven. More than 1,000 employees collectively went on strike during midday to protest the company's previously announced layoff plan. This strike, organized by FNV, the largest trade union in the Netherlands, represents the most severe internal labor conflict ASML has faced in recent years.

The immediate trigger for this strike was the restructuring plan announced by ASML in January 2025. According to this plan, the company will eliminate approximately 1,700 positions, accounting for 3.8% of its total global workforce. Among these, 1,400 positions will be affected in the Netherlands, while 300 positions will be impacted at the Wilton, Connecticut facility in the United States.

Union Counterattack

In response to the management's explanations, the unions raised precise challenges. Peter Reniers, leader of the Dutch FNV, pointed out that ASML is fully capable of adopting a more prudent approach to layoffs and should even "go back to the drawing board" to develop an alternative plan that does not involve compulsory redundancies.

The unions' arguments are highly persuasive. ASML achieved record-breaking performance in the 2025 fiscal year - annual net sales reached 32.7 billion euros, with net profits as high as 9.6 billion euros, marking 13 consecutive years of sales growth. At the same time, the company also announced the launch of a 12 billion euro share buyback program, expected to continue until 2028.

What is even more perplexing is that while conducting layoffs, ASML is simultaneously undertaking massive expansion. On March 11, the Eindhoven City Council approved ASML's construction of a second campus in the Brainport Industrial Park. This campus is expected to accommodate 20,000 new employees - nearly double ASML's current Dutch workforce of approximately 23,000 - with the first 5,000 staff expected to move in by early 2028. This contradictory logic has become the central basis for the unions' challenge to the rationality of management's decision-making.

Negotiation Deadlock

Currently, negotiations between labor and management have reached an impasse. ASML hopes to finalize the restructuring terms by April 1 to end internal turmoil, but the two major unions both consider this target "completely unrealistic." Remy Bisschops, representative of the Dutch CNV, stated that a choice must be made between "a quick resolution with inadequate terms" and "taking longer but truly protecting employees." The unions' core objective remains avoiding compulsory layoffs.

Latest Development

Following weeks of tense back-and-forth, ASML and the Dutch trade unions (FNV, CNV, De Unie, and VHP2) have finalized a social safety plan tied to the ongoing restructuring, effectively breaking the earlier impasse.
Under the agreement, no employee will face compulsory redundancy before May 1, 2027, securing a multi-month employment guarantee window while the reorganization plays out. The framework — retroactively effective from June 1, 2026 and running for two years — prioritizes internal redeployment, giving staff whose roles are marked for elimination the first opportunity to fill vacant positions elsewhere across ASML.
Where an internal fit cannot be found, the plan provides enhanced severance, retraining budgets, and outplacement support, with extra protections for workers over 50.

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