ASML tries to keep employees until 2030 with €20K stock | Hacker News Reader

ASML tries to keep employees until 2030 with €20K stock

dutchnews.nl

4 pointsjbverschoor8 comments

That's quite pathetic from ASML, and way below big tech standards.

In South Korea at the center of the memory boom, Samsung (agreed) to a profit sharing deal with employees of bonuses worth around $400k - $600k [0]. That is enough to keep them at the company.

Europe on the other hand has no money to keep employees there.

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/may/27/samsung-m...

That is €20K over 3.5 years, so 6K per year

> The gesture comes days after ASML raised its full-year forecast for the second time this year, reporting second-quarter profits of €2.9 billion on sales of €9.3 billion as AI-driven demand continues to outpace expectations.

> It also follows a turbulent start to the year for the workforce. In January, ASML said it would cut 1,700 jobs, mainly in the Netherlands, despite record 2025 results. In June, the company agreed with unions that there would be no forced redundancies until at least May 2027.

Hopefully China can achieve capability parity soon. Perhaps they could hire away ASML staff with more generous comp to accelerate their progress.

https://thediplomat.com/2026/07/chinas-euv-lithography-progr...

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/ch...

> Hopefully China can achieve capability parity soon.

Preferably not.

Western companies focused on profits, so they will have to compete with a country built to build. ASML does not respect its workers, so I argue it no longer should profit from its current technology moat advantage. The West actively chose this path. They could’ve done better, it was a choice not to.

It’s sort of humorous in a long story arc sort of way that the USSR lost to the US (and to a lesser extent, Europe), who will now end up losing to China. You just have to focus on building and maintaining the ability to build, and staying focused on building the right things. A case study in state capacity and good governance.

> US (and to a lesser extent, Europe), who will now end up losing to China.

You say that as if it’s a foregone conclusion.

Want to bet on it? I’m happy to propose date and resolution criteria, and will consider reasonable proposals. Trajectories are clear, and unlikely to change. The US and Europe, while not terminal, will never be able to catch up to China (I argue).

https://longbets.org/

This piques my interest but I'm also not keen to reveal my identity (seems like you have to use your name at longbets.org)

Let me think about it.

In the meantime, how would you frame the bet?

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