AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch Philips Electronics will lay-off 5 percent of its workforce at its Healthcare division as part of an accelerated cost-savings push sparked by the global economic slowdown.
Company spokesman Arent Jan Hesselink said on Saturday some 32,000 workers are employed at Philips’ healthcare division, which is one of the world’s top three hospital equipment makers, giving a total number of 1,600 job cuts.
At its third-quarter results last month, Philips said it would take measures to maintain profitability across all three business lines and the restructuring at the healthcare unit are the first specific steps to have been revealed.
Philips aims to improve its healthcare margins and streamline operations, particularly in its imaging systems business.
“The 5 percent reduction in the workforce is one of the borders of the programs we are working on,” Hesselink said.
Philips said last month it would take about a 50 million euro ($63 million) charge for the healthcare restructuring in the fourth quarter, but Hesselink declined to indicate how much of that charge will be linked to the lay-offs.
Philips posted in October sharply lower core profit for the third quarter that missed estimates, partly hurt by its healthcare unit which saw an order slowdown due to the credit crisis.
Earlier on Saturday, regional newspaper, the Eindhovens Dagblad, quoted a Philips spokesman confirming the job cuts, but he did not reveal where and how the layoffs will be made or what types of workers will be made redundant.
Hesselink said Philips expects to provide further details about the company’s restructuring measures at its fourth-quarter results in January.
