The mass layoff at Philips does not necessarily have to turn into a huge drama for many employees. People who work at Philips Research are highly sought after and may be able to work for other companies in Southeast Brabant. So says professor of the labor market at Tilburg University Ton Wilthagen.
Philips plans to cut 3,000 jobs worldwide this year, 700 of which are in our province. And also in 2024 and 2025 the knife will go into the workforce. This has everything to do with poor financial figures, which the medical technology company presented today: Philips suffered a loss of 1.6 billion euros last year.
In the Netherlands, research institute Philips Research in particular is the hare. This is currently still a large Philips unit that is centrally located in the Eindhoven-Best region. Very highly trained researchers break their heads here about new innovations in health technology.
But a different wind is blowing under the new CEO Roy Jakobs. He wants research to take place more widely around the world, in places where production also takes place. The further development of new products in particular will therefore take place less in Brabant. A slimmed-down form of Philips Research in our province therefore seems to be the result.
“Researchers are highly educated and partly because of that they are very popular.”
It is certain that jobs will disappear. But it is not yet entirely clear whose jobs are at risk. Not even for Professor of the Labor Market Ton Wilthagen at Tilburg University. That is why he mainly comments in a general sense on what can happen to employees at Philips Research.
“Losing your job is never fun. Especially if you have been working somewhere for a long time,” Wilthagen is clear. But according to him, that only becomes really annoying if it is difficult or impossible to find new work. In that area, however, the professor sees opportunities for people whose jobs at the Philips research institute are at risk.
“Researchers are highly educated and, partly because of this, they are highly sought after. Many companies focus on technological innovations and for that they need people with specific knowledge,” says Wilthagen. “People who work at Research often have that kind of knowledge in-house.”
“The big advantage is that ASML is practically the neighbor of Philips Research.”
The geographical location of Philips Research is also favorable for many employees, assuming they live nearby. “The good news with this bad news is: things are generally going very well in Southeast Brabant. Companies such as ASML and NXP are growing and eager to expand. ASML takes on hundreds of people if possible,” says Wilthagen.
“The big advantage is that ASML is practically the neighbor of Philips Research. So if researchers suddenly enter the labor market, they may be able to make the switch quickly. The demand for those people is enormous. Although further training may be necessary.”
However, with the possible bankruptcy of car company Lightyear in Helmond and the mass layoffs at Philips, the question arises whether this is not the beginning of a larger crisis in the technological manufacturing industry. But according to the Tilburg professor, this is not the case.
“The problems at play are too specific for that. Look at Philips: it is doing badly financially due to problems with apnea devices. But it is not the case that the company in a broader sense is moribund,” emphasizes Wilthagen.
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