Philips cuts 6,000 more jobs as electronics giant’s faulty sleep device pushes it into the red by £1.49bn

Philips is cutting 6,000 jobs globally in a bid to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of its supply chains.

The Dutch electronics manufacturer said it would cut around eight per cent of its workforce by 2025, as it counts the costs of suspected faulty sleep devices which it is still recalling.

In its full year 2022 results, Philips reported a net loss of £1.49bn (€1.6bn) in 2022, down from a net profit of £2.9bn (€3.3bn euros) the previous year.

Last October Philips announced it was cutting around 4,000 jobs – the equivalent of five per cent of staff – in Roy Jakobs’ first major move as CEO.

The Dutch conglomerate has had its sales fall for more than a year and has ultimately become loss-making.

October’s job losses were in the US and the Netherlands and were concentrated in business lines with falling sales.

Jakobs said it had been a “very difficult year” for Philips and its stakeholders, but the company is “taking firm actions to improve our execution and step up performance with urgency”.

Philips has been grappling with the recall of millions of ventilators used to treat sleep apnoea over worries foam used in the machines could become toxic.

According to reports, around 90 per cent of the production needed for replacement devices has been completed.

Fourth-quarter earnings were stronger and the market reacted positively, with Philips’ shares on Monday morning up as much as 7.3 per cent.

The job losses to date, amount to 13 per cent of Philips’ global workforce.