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ASML staffing changes could result in a net reduction of around 1700 positions

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Re: ASML staffing changes could result in a net reduction of around 1700 positions

#321

Post by accidentallfact »

joe_mamba wrote: post #267
direwolf20 wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China doesn't need licences. They can just violate western IP law and make lots of money. As every country without a need to placate the IP industry does.

You can't steal everything if you intend to export. That's why they bought Qimonda's IP portfolio, so they have valid licenses when they start to sell their products in the west and not get banned for IP theft, although I assume the US & allies will just ban them anyway for another dozen reasons out of protectionism.

It isn't really "theft" when you know how to make something, but bullshit paperwork forces you to pretend otherwise.

Re: ASML staffing changes could result in a net reduction of around 1700 positions

#322

Post by expedition32 »

skrebbel wrote: post #13

The press release ( https://www.asml.com/en/news/press-releases/2026/strengtheni... ) seems remarkably to the point, for CEO press release standards. I'm impressed by their ambition to fire 1700 managers (!) That's a lot of managers! I interviewed with ASML a decade and a half ago and while there was plenty to complain about (eg their tens of millions of lines of absolutely unmaintainable C code), I didn't feel at th…

Dutch company. Nobody is walking out with boxes. They will get a nice severance package and up to 2 years of unemployment benefits.

Re: ASML staffing changes could result in a net reduction of around 1700 positions

#323

Post by direwolf20 »

fcantournet wrote: post #243
direwolf20 wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Landlords, probably. The only people you have to keep paying even if they don't do anything and nobody is employed.

landlords need people to pay the rent. Or to spell it out more precisely : the construction/housing industry off of which land lords extract value needs external value creation to still exist AND give revenue to spend to a large population. "Houses are for people to live in" may be a communist slogan right now, but it's also very basic macro-economic reality.

When someone is living in the house, the landlord can get the rent. Either voluntarily, or by force through the courts. Even if nobody is employed.

Re: ASML staffing changes could result in a net reduction of around 1700 positions

#324

Post by joe_mamba »

locknitpicker wrote: post #313
newsclues wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies are on quarterly schedules. Countries/cities/counties are often 4ish years. XI has been the head of the CCP for 14 years

Hungary's Orban has been in power for how long? 16 years and counting? Is Hungary a paragon of growth and strategic planning?

>Is Hungary a paragon of growth and strategic planning?

Kinda, yeah. Foreign investors love doing business with dictators due to guaranteed stability versus the political pendulum swinging every 4 years.

HEnce why more manufacturing is opening in Hungary.

  BMW: Opened a new, fully electric vehicle plant in Debrecen in September 2025, with series production of the BMW iX3 starting in late October 2025.

  Mercedes-Benz: Announced expansion of its Kecskemét plant to start producing the A-Class model in 2026, further solidifying its presence in Hungary where it already manufactures other models. 

  BYD: The Chinese EV maker is building its first European production facility in Szeged, with operations set to begin by the end of 2025 or early 2026. The €4 billion plant will initially produce tens of thousands of vehicles annually, focusing on EVs for the European market. 

  CATL: The world's largest battery manufacturer is constructing a massive plant in Debrecen, expected to start production in early 2026. This supports Hungary's EV ecosystem, supplying batteries to automakers like BMW. 

  Flex (Flextronics): Inaugurated a new high-tech "NextGen" plant in Zalaegerszeg in November 2025, worth 35 billion HUF (about €90 million). It focuses on electronics and components for the automotive industry, creating 210 jobs in research and production.

Re: ASML staffing changes could result in a net reduction of around 1700 positions

#325

Post by cmiles8 »

budgefrankly wrote: post #171
cmiles8 wrote: post #165

I’m generally supportive of the tech industry’s move to rid itself of too many mangers. Most managers are no longer technical, and just create bloated middle layers that slow everyone else down. The only managers that are decent are the ones that have kept their technical skills sharp. Most others just seem to be able to say “my team will follow-up” and “my team will look into this” and are beyond useless. Few are sh…

> Most managers are no longer technical, and just create bloated middle layers that slow everyone else down. > The only managers that are decent are the ones that have kept their technical skills sharp. Alex Ferguson was a terrible footballer when he was managing Manchester United. Yet they won the premiership in 6 of his last 10 years in that role, and have never won it since he left. The skills that make one great…

Not a great example. Football doesn’t change much. You don’t need to actively play football to know how to lead a football team well.

Tech is very different… given the pace of change you quickly no longer have any clue what’s happening unless stay technical. Imagine being dropped in to manage an AI team in 2026 when you have no experience with LLMs and the last time you coded was Pascal. 1) Teams some respect you, and 2) You’ll have no clue what you’re doing. And yet there are tons of “tech leaders” that fit this profile.

Re: ASML staffing changes could result in a net reduction of around 1700 positions

#326

Post by piva00 »

yobbo wrote: post #305
piva00 wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Labour laws have much less of an impact than the work or overall culture. Sweden has quite strong labour protection but can be much more innovative than Germany because there's much less emphasis in respecting titles, seniority, and authority than the Germans. German education has a big emphasis on bowing down to authority from early age, Sweden is much more lax (and even though Jantelagen isn't a big thing in modern…

"Law of Jante" (jantelagen) is a double edged sword and can work in favour of innovation. In good cases, it means both subordinates and bosses intuitively understand that titles are theatre, and anyone can present new ideas and challenge old ideas.

Yup, that's my experience after 10+ years in Sweden. It's a double-edged sword in case its tenets are used to shut diverging opinions but overall, and again in my experience, I've seen it much more as a pervasive culture of listening to others, considering their opinions even if they are below in the totem pole, and even the "consensus building" culture that many despise I've experienced in the form of convincing others why your opinion is sound.

It feels to me a decent approach for equalising anything that could devolve into hierarchical thinking. As you mention it also has another edge which can indeed be a hindrance but I haven't experienced that side (at least not yet).

Re: ASML staffing changes could result in a net reduction of around 1700 positions

#327

Post by tonyedgecombe »

jorvi wrote: post #218
stingraycharles wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a signal that the finance people are becoming more important to the company, but not necessarily a bad thing; it's effectively a more (tax) efficient form of dividends, which isn't very controversial. ASML is a fairly old company (40+ years), and they have been doing share buybacks since 2006: https://www.asml.com/en/investors/why-invest-in-asml/share-b...

But both dividends and stock buybacks are terrible and really shouldn't exist. In a proper market, competition is so fierce that you cannot afford dividends / stock buybacks because your competitors will put all their money towards R&D and retaining & attracting the best personnel. Then again, this has been going on for decades. Businesses used to be about being the best for your customers and personnel. But it's all…

Why would anybody invest in a business that never produces a return?

Re: ASML staffing changes could result in a net reduction of around 1700 positions

#328

Post by repelsteeltje »

Gud wrote: post #307
repelsteeltje wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it's simply the externalities issue. Finance people optimize finance, which among other things results in improved efficiency. But despite best intentions to map out all incentives that matter, it always fails to consider some aspects. Focusing on short-term profits, ignoring privacy, security or pollution because it's free, lobbying for favourable legislation that hampers competitors, etc. These are things t…

Why does "optimizing finance" improve the efficiency in an engineering company? Seems to me like "optimizing finance" could be absolutely detrimental for the bottom line.

I guess I meant to say: "finance people optimize the company 's financials"

Re: ASML staffing changes could result in a net reduction of around 1700 positions

#329

Post by skrebbel »

hayvan wrote: post #146
skrebbel wrote: post #13

The press release ( https://www.asml.com/en/news/press-releases/2026/strengtheni... ) seems remarkably to the point, for CEO press release standards. I'm impressed by their ambition to fire 1700 managers (!) That's a lot of managers! I interviewed with ASML a decade and a half ago and while there was plenty to complain about (eg their tens of millions of lines of absolutely unmaintainable C code), I didn't feel at th…

Interesting. I had an interview with them around the same time frame. It was 3-hour interview with 3 managers (1-hour each) with zero technical questions. When I pointed that out they said technical skills are less important and can be gained on the job, they needed to see if I matched company culture. Apparently I didn't.

Woa madness. Was that at the D&E department?

Re: ASML staffing changes could result in a net reduction of around 1700 positions

#330

Post by lbreakjai »

direwolf20 wrote: post #323
fcantournet wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

landlords need people to pay the rent. Or to spell it out more precisely : the construction/housing industry off of which land lords extract value needs external value creation to still exist AND give revenue to spend to a large population. "Houses are for people to live in" may be a communist slogan right now, but it's also very basic macro-economic reality.

When someone is living in the house, the landlord can get the rent. Either voluntarily, or by force through the courts. Even if nobody is employed.

If nobody is employed, then nobody has any money to live in a house, and the landlord doesn't get any rent.
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