WINTERSWIJK – Signify’s lamp factory in Winterswijk will soon close. As a result, nearly a hundred employees will lose their jobs.
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The company – the former Philips Lighting – moves production to Poland and Hungary. In those countries the labor force is a lot cheaper.
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According to the company, the move to Eastern Europe is necessary because of the ‘fast-changing and competitive market for smart and sustainable lighting’.
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Signify manager Leo Schouten speaks of an ‘extremely difficult decision’. “But we are now especially aware of the impact this has on our employees. We will do our utmost to guide our employees to suitable work or study opportunities.”
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Drastically
It is not yet known when the location in Winterswijk will definitively close its doors. The company has been closing or drastically downsizing light factories for years because of the dramatically changed global lighting market over the past decade.
Philips has been a major player in Winterswijk since its arrival in 1965. At its peak, about five hundred people worked at the location in the Achterhoek. That number has declined rapidly over the past ten years.
The last reorganization took place in 2017, the company was split and renamed from Philips Lighting to Signify. About 95 employees remained. They are now also losing their jobs.
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‘Bitter’
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Trade union CNV regrets Signify’s move. “This is very bitter for the employees,” says CNV director Arjan Huizinga. ‘The company is going to be front-line in Hungary and Poland for a dime. There is still a social plan from the Philips era. That eases the pain, but does not close the gaping hole that the management is creating here. We are talking here about people with generally long employment contracts. And therefore also older ages. That considerably reduces the chance of a replacement job.’
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