Two-thirds of the reorganisation will take place in Eindhoven and Best. “Dramatic”, says the Federation of Trade Unions (FNV) director, Hans Wijers. Likewise, CNV has no confidence in the necessity for this new reorganisation.
By reducing investments in research and development (R&D), Philips aims to create a focus on development. Wijers is particularly concerned about these R&D cutbacks. “Cutting innovation, while that’s how you’ve become big. That is a worrying development. Adding last year’s 800 job cuts, the company is heading towards 2,000 jobs. It almost has the proportions of Operation Centurion”, he refers to the reorganisation of the early 1990s.
The CNV trade union also places exclamation marks on the announced mass layoffs. “As far as CNV Vakmensen is concerned, the reorganisation does not offer any guarantee for smooth sailing,” the union writes. “The previous four CEOs between 1990 and 2022 also started their appointments by implementing major changes,” says CNV director Arjan Huizinga.
Quality over costs
According to Hans Wijers of the FNV, it is now especially important that ‘quality thinking’ returns to Philips. “Would the whole problem with the sleep apnea device have happened if quality had been more important? Maybe. We know from our supporters that buyers had to keep an eye on costs. Then it is quite possible that you end up with a lower quality of the materials you use”.
Dividend
The CNV thinks that the bill for the difficult times the company is going through is again being passed on to employees. “Each time, sacking employees is part of the solution to help the company move forward. But it is precisely these people who do everything they can to make Philips a great company. It would be much more desirable to stop paying dividends to shareholders for one or two years. They withdraw a lot of useful Philips money purely for their own benefit. In difficult times, that can be reduced a bit”.
Source: Studio040 & OmroepBrabant
Translated by: Seetha
