The number continues to rise. The Dutch group Philips announced on Monday that it will cut 6,000 jobs by 2025 after losses linked to the recall of defective breathing apparatus for sleep apnea, which has plagued the company for months.
This new “difficult but necessary” workforce reduction comes on top of the loss of 4,000 jobs announced by the group last October, said Philips CEO Roy Jakobs.
Inhalation Hazards
Late last year, the group reported huge losses due to a huge recall of faulty sleep apnea breathing machines. The company had started the process in June 2021, after revealing that users of these technologies risked inhaling or swallowing pieces of toxic sound-deadening foam which could cause irritation, headaches but also, in the long term, a “potential” risk of cancer.
Philips employs nearly 80,000 people in around 100 countries. The company hopes, through its job cuts, to achieve significant annual savings to offset its losses.