The announcement in January of a possible relocation of ASML, world leader in the field of photolithography, an essential technology in the manufacturing of semiconductors, continues to agitate the Dutch government. So much so that Mark Rutte, the resigning Prime Minister, had to imagine an emergency plan to try to maintain the foothold of the Veldhoven giant on national territory.
Wednesday March 6, the daily De Telegraaf revealed the launch, by the government, of Operation “Beethoven”, intended to improve the “investment climate” in the kingdom. The same day, Mr. Rutte left for a time the campaign he is leading to obtain the post of Secretary General of NATO and met Peter Wennink, the boss of ASML, in the company of the Minister of the Economy , Micky Adriaansens.
The recent declarations of the CEO of a group worth 360 billion euros on the stock market and employing 42,000 people have ignited the powder. “This company needs to double, or even triple, its production. It’s possible here, but elsewhere too,” commented in January, Mr. Wennink, who will retire at the end of April and should be replaced by the Frenchman Christophe Fourquet, current director of commercial affairs.
“Bad signals”
The remark hit the mark, particularly because it aimed to denounce an increasingly restrictive immigration policy. ASML, of which 40% of employees are of foreign origin, wants – and must – continue to recruit highly qualified personnel from outside the borders, but faces numerous difficulties, including the tightening of the conditions for access to the status of expatriate. Two of the parties that emerged victorious in the legislative elections of November 2023, the Party for Freedom of the populist Geert Wilders and the New Social Contract of Peter Omtzigt, intend, for their part, to further restrict work authorizations, even for professions in shortage.
Enough to worry other high-tech companies in need of labor, such as NXP, which produces cutting-edge electronic components in Eindhoven, or BESI, which manufactures semiconductor equipment in the province of Gelderland. Boskalis, a multinational established in the province of South Holland, specializing in dredging and the development of offshore projects, has created a regional office in Abu Dhabi and is threatening to establish its entire headquarters there in 2025. Evoking “the infinite supply of talent” in the Emirates and the possibility of recruiting Asian staff there quickly and without administrative difficulty, Peter Berdowski, the CEO of the company, contrasted this situation with that, too restrictive, according to him, in the Netherlands.
You have 50.39% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.