Chip maker ASML supplier VDL denies reports it is cutting jobs

Industrial machinery maker VDL, a key supplier to top computer chip equipment maker ASML, on Monday denied a report that it is cutting jobs due to weak demand in semiconductor markets.

The report by Business News Radio cited an internal memo. A spokesperson for VDL said the company is reducing a small number of the flexible workers it employs, which happens periodically, and it is not planning job cuts among its 16,000 staff.

VDL designs and builds several parts for ASML's huge lithography systems, including silicon wafer handlers, and the "vessel" -- a part of the system which houses the lasers used in a vaccum on ASML's most advanced machines.