Turnhout (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Signify in Turnhout, formerly Philips Lighting, is cutting 73, with 50 more expected soon. Peggy Schuermans (ACV-CSC Metea) says production keeps falling as LED lighting replaces traditional lamps.
As VRT News reported, at Signify in Turnhout, formerly Philips Lighting, 73 employees will lose their jobs following another restructuring round. The company says the decision is linked to the declining demand for traditional lighting, including incandescent and fluorescent lamps.
They mentioned that the global lighting market has moved toward LED and smart lighting, which require less manual production and new types of technology. The Turnhout plant, once a key site in Philips’ history, has faced several rounds of job cuts in recent years.
What will happen to Signify’s Turnhout factory after 73 layoffs?
The latest decision mainly affects the 3D printing department, which will close completely and transfer its production to Poland. Signify states that the department’s financial results did not meet expectations.
“We knew the figures were poor, but no one expected a decision this quickly,”
said Peggy Schuermans of the ACV-CSC Metea union.
Trade unions have criticised the move and are asking for fair compensation and guidance for the affected workers. Signify says the changes are necessary to keep the company competitive in a fast-changing lighting industry.
“We know that our production will only continue to decline in the future, which will lead to the loss of even more jobs.”
Peggy Schuermans, General Christian Trade Union
Job cuts have been taking place there for more than 10 years. The company says stricter European rules on conventional lighting and the global shift to LED products are behind the decline. According to Peggy Schuermans of the ACV-CSC Metea union, production will keep falling in the years ahead. She said the move to LED lighting means fewer jobs and less work for the local plant.
This phase of restructuring will cost 73 jobs, and the union warns that another 50 positions will be cut soon. These extra layoffs are linked to a reorganisation that is still in progress. At present, 201 employees remain at the Turnhout site, but by the end of next year, only around 80 are expected to stay. The factory still includes a small department that makes projector lamps, one of the last units still operating. The union says its future depends on how the market develops.
“That market is declining less rapidly than the rest of the traditional lighting market; it will be the last division to survive,”
says Schuermans.
“We assume the company will eventually close, but when that will be is not yet clear.”
The Turnhout factory has been part of the lighting industry since the 1950s, when Philips began producing lamps there. For many years, the site was one of the company’s main production centres in Belgium. The decline started after 2010, when new European Union rules began phasing out traditional light bulbs to promote energy efficiency.
In 2016, Philips split off its lighting division, which became Signify in 2018, focusing on LED and smart lighting. Since then, the Turnhout site has faced repeated rounds of layoffs as demand for incandescent and fluorescent lamps continued to fall. A 3D printing unit was added in 2020, but it could not stop the steady loss of work and jobs at the plant.
