Philips Ultrasound is laying off 33 employees from its Bothell, Wash., facility, which serves as a hub for the engineering and manufacturing of ultrasound equipment and other healthcare devices.
The cuts were disclosed in a new filing from the Washington Employment Security Department and will take effect Dec. 31.
Production operators, warehouse operators and technicians were affected by the cuts.
The layoff “is part of a limited restructuring of specific Philips Ultrasound activities within an ongoing strategic transition plan that was announced in 2024,” Mario Fante, Philips’ global external relations director told GeekWire via email.
The Netherlands-based company has around 1,500 employees in the Seattle area, according to LinkedIn.
In a separate incident, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September issued a warning letter to the CEO of Royal Philips citing oversight concerns at the Bothell facility as well as a location in Pennsylvania and another in the Netherlands.
The issues at the Bothell site relate to a lack of documentation regarding the company’s response when ultrasound devices are reported to be defective and either break or perform incorrectly.
“We are not able to determine the adequacy of the proposed corrective actions for your responses for the Bothell and Reedsville facilities. We understand that Philips Ultrasound has revised their complaint procedures and have updated the corresponding complaint records to include additional information and to address the inspectional findings,” states the FDA letter.
The layoffs are “completely unrelated to any regulatory action,” Fante added.
Editor’s note: Story updated to clarify that the FDA warning is unrelated to the reduction in force and to add comment from Fante.
