1,600 Layoffs at Philips Healthcare Unit

Wade Roush11/21/08

The healthcare unit of Royal Philips NV, headquartered in Andover MA, will cut 1,600 positions worldwide as part of a restructuring effort that is only partly related to the economic downturn, according to reports today in the Eagle-Tribune, a local newspaper in Andover, and the Boston Globe. About 100 people at the Andover facility will be among those let go. The move comes only a few months after Philips announced it would move the healthcare division’s headquarters to Andover from New York.

Wade Roush is Xconomy's chief correspondent and editor of Xconomy San Francisco. You can e-mail him at wroush@xconomy.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/wroush.