ASML's cutting 1,700 jobs while swimming in AI chip money
The chip equipment giant is axing leadership roles despite record profits. Here's why this timing feels weird.
Scout Team
Okay so I saw this deal and had to share... except it's not a deal, it's actually pretty bizarre news. ASML just announced they're laying off around 1,700 employees, and before you ask - yes, this is the same company whose stock price is basically vertical right now thanks to the AI chip boom.
Here's what gets me. They're not cutting factory workers or engineers who actually build their insanely complex chip-making machines. Nope. They're mostly targeting leadership positions in their Technology and IT departments. Which, honestly? Kinda makes you wonder what's really going on behind closed doors in the Netherlands.
The timing is what really stands out. We're literally in the middle of the biggest semiconductor equipment boom I've ever covered. Every chip fab on the planet wants ASML's extreme ultraviolet lithography machines - they're the only company that makes them. Their order book is packed through 2027. Stock's at record highs. And yet... layoffs.
Look, I've seen this movie before with tech companies. Sometimes "streamlining operations" really does mean getting rid of redundant middle management. But when you're printing money faster than your machines can etch transistors, laying off 1,700 people feels more like preparing for something than fixing something.
My take? Either ASML knows something about the chip market that we don't, or they're just being ruthlessly efficient while they can afford it. Neither option makes me feel great about where the industry's headed in 2026.