Antwerp (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – BASF Antwerp will cut 20 of nearly 100 laboratory jobs. ABVV’s Jan Vlegels highlights the challenge of finding lab technician roles. Affected staff can choose severance or internal retraining.
As VRT News reported, laboratory workers at BASF’s Antwerp site were the first to hear about the company’s job cuts on Thursday, Oct 23, 2025. The chemical giant announced it will reduce 600 jobs at its Antwerp plant.
On Wednesday, Oct 22, 2025, BASF began information sessions on-site to explain the plans to employees. Even though the sessions have just started, the effects are already being felt in the laboratory. According to the socialist trade union ABVV, about 20 of the nearly 100 laboratory positions are expected to be cut.
How will BASF Antwerp’s 600 Job cuts impact lab workers?
Jan Vlegels from ABVV said the announcement offers “a small but clear glimpse” of the larger changes to the company. He mentioned that workers affected by the reductions will have a choice. They can take a severance package, which Vlegels called generous, or take part in retraining programs to move to other positions within BASF.
“It is very difficult to find a job as a laboratory technician in the chemical sector now,” Jan Vlegels from ABVV said.
Officials mentioned that finding a new job is not easy for the laboratory staff affected by BASF’s cuts. Union representatives say it is very hard to get a position as a lab technician in the chemical sector right now. Those who try to look outside the chemical industry often face lower pay, making the move difficult for many employees.
Jan Vlegels from the socialist trade union ABVV called BASF’s approach a “salami technique.” He explained that the company is reducing staff in small steps rather than all at once.
“They are doing it in slices. Management will probably make a similar announcement in another department next week,” he said.
He mentioned that BASF’s laboratory plays a key role in the company. Staff there carry out chemical tests on raw materials and finished products before they leave the plant.
BASF Antwerpen, the largest chemical company in Belgium, has announced plans to cut 600 jobs by 2028, which is nearly 16 % of the company’s total workforce. This job loss is solely part of an organisational cost reduction plan to achieve a €150 million annual reduction in fixed costs.
The company assures that no involuntary job losses are planned; the company will instead provide alternatives to involuntary job losses. If the current restructuring proceeds, the plans call for one-third of senior executives to be cut.
The latest announcement follows a cost savings initiative from November 2024 that cut costs in their entirety, with a target of achieving an annual €100 million in cost savings through outsourcing. The company clarifies that its expanded annual target has a legitimate basis for offering employee reductions.
