'In this sector, about five per cent of all workers will be laid off. There are a total of 32,000 employees in this division so that means 1,600 jobs will be lost,' said Arent Jan Hesselink.

'We want to take all possible measures despite the sluggish economic scenario at present to maintain our profit levels and even improve them if possible,' he said.

Most of the medical division employees are based in the United States 'but this does not mean that workers will lose jobs where they are most in numbers.' -- AFP