[News] ASML’s 1,700 Job Cuts Reportedly Target Management Roles; Summer Hiring Freeze Planned
ASML is reportedly planning job cuts. According to Times of India, citing Business Insider, the company is set to reduce its workforce by around 1,700 positions, or about 4% of its roughly 44,000 employees. The layoffs, announced in January alongside record full-year revenue of €32.7 billion, are focused on management and coordination roles rather than engineering staff.
The report indicates that around 1,400 of the affected roles are in the Netherlands, with about 185 in the U.S.—down from an initially proposed 300 cuts. The positions targeted reportedly include roles such as Department Manager, Group Leader, Team Leader, Project Lead, Chief Product Owner, Product Owner, Scrum Master, Main Delivery Owner, Release Train Engineer, Program Manager, and Project Cluster Manager.
In addition, as noted by Mint, citing Business Insider, ASML is also planning a six-week hiring freeze during the summer.
As Times of India indicates, ASML believes the organization had become overly layered and inefficient. The restructuring aims to address this by flattening the hierarchy and creating around 1,400 new engineering roles to replace the management positions being eliminated. However, according to Mint, citing Business Insider, the reorganization plans are not yet finalized.
Amid the planned layoffs, labor tensions have begun to surface. Times of India reports that more than 1,000 employees staged a lunchtime walkout at ASML’s Veldhoven headquarters in March. Unions have since called for a second protest during the company’s shareholder meeting.
High-NA EUV Demand Outlook Softens on TSMC Signals
ASML is a key supplier of lithography systems to global chipmakers, but indications from TSMC that its upcoming advanced nodes may not require High-NA EUV tools have tempered investor expectations for the Dutch company, according to Wall Street Journal. TSMC’s A13 and A12 nodes, targeted for 2029, are not expected to use ASML’s most advanced High-NA EUV systems.
Tom’s Hardware notes that TSMC’s approach contrasts with Intel’s roadmap for its 14A node and subsequent generations, which are set to adopt High-NA EUV starting in 2027–2028.
TSMC’s stance could weigh on ASML’s business outlook. As noted by Cailian Press, the company had previously expected its High-NA lithography systems to enter large-scale mass production in 2027 and 2028, and to generate up to €60 billion in revenue by 2030.
ASML Faces Potential Impact from MATCH Act Proposal
A recent U.S. bill to tighten chipmaking tool restrictions on China could also have implications for ASML. According to Investing.com, the proposed MATCH Act—short for the Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware—includes deep ultraviolet (DUV) immersion lithography systems within its scope.
ASML reports that China accounts for 19% of its net system sales in Q1 2026, down from 36% in Q4 2025, as noted in the company’s earnings report.
Notably, the bill defines “servicing” broadly, covering not only equipment sales but also activities such as installation, maintenance, remote software updates, and technical support. As Investing.com notes, this suggests that potential restrictions could extend beyond new system shipments and also affect high-margin services revenue linked to ASML’s installed base in China.
Read more
- [News] ASML Raises 2026 Sales Outlook to €36B–€40B on Memory, Logic Demand; South Korea Share Hits 45%
- [News] TSMC Latest Roadmap: A12, A13 for 2029 Without High-NA EUV; A16 Volume Production Delayed to 2027
(Photo credit: ASML)
