Philips, the Dutch electronics group, will cut 4,500 jobs as third-quarter earnings slumped and the outlook for its products continues to be uncertain.
The cuts are part of a plan by Frans van Houten, who took over as chief executive in April, to trim €800m ($1.1bn) in costs, in what he termed “a regrettable but inevitable step to improve our operating model to become more agile, lean and competitive”. About 1,400 of the cuts will be in its domestic Dutch operations.
The downsizing comes amid sagging consumer confidence in Europe and the US, two of Philips’ core markets. Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr van Houten said: “Europe is probably the region we are most worried about. We have not seen growth there this quarter.”