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The Hague (AFP) – The beleaguered Dutch medical technology maker Philips said Monday it will cut another 6,000 jobs worldwide following new losses caused by a massive recall of defective sleep respirators. bottom.
Chief Executive Roy Jacobs has announced “further headcount reductions that are difficult but necessary” by 2025.
“2022 will be a very challenging year for Philips and our stakeholders and we are taking decisive action to improve our execution and urgently strengthen our performance.
The Amsterdam-based company announced a net loss of €105 million ($114 million) in the fourth quarter of 2022 and €1.6 billion for the entire year, largely due to recalls.
Philips has announced a global recall of appliances to treat people suffering from sleep apnea in 2021.
This was followed by concerns that patients were at risk of “potential toxicity and carcinogenicity” if they inhaled or swallowed pieces of the machine’s degraded sound deadening foam.
Jakobs, who took over in October, said Philips needs to “improve performance and simplify how we work to increase agility and productivity.”
“This includes further difficult but necessary cuts to reduce around 6,000 roles worldwide by 2025,” he added.
A total of 3,000 new jobs will be eliminated in 2023.
US survey
Starting as a lighting company over 130 years ago, Philips has undergone a major transformation in recent years, selling assets to focus on manufacturing high-end electronic healthcare products.
But that change has been called into question by a huge recall that has driven it to losses and saw the previous CEO step down.
The company is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, is negotiating a financial settlement with U.S. authorities, and is a defendant in several U.S. class-action lawsuits.
Jakobs said Philips will focus on “strengthening patient safety and quality control and completing the Respironics recall.”
The company says it has made about 90% of the replacement devices it needs to buy for its patients.
However, the number of exchanges is also increasing and the company needs to secure another €85 million.
Phillips said it had not yet considered a possible payment from the United States due to the “uncertain nature” of the final amount.
In December, Jacobs told AFP that testing of the recalled ventilators showed they were “within safe limits” for use, but the final decision rests with global regulators. Said there was
© 2023 AFP
