Shielded from Pandemic, Work Continues in World’s Cleanest Room
- Employees for ASML still make chip-producing equipment
- Company has enacted social-distancing rules, spaced out shifts
An employee wears protective clothing at the ASML factory in Veldhoven, Netherlands.
Photographer: Jasper Juinen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A two-hour drive south of Amsterdam in Veldhoven, workers decked out head-to-toe in protective gear toil in vast assembly halls. Before entering the inner sanctuary of the facilities, they meticulously layer on masks, gloves and special socks. A single speck of dust or a hair can have devastating effects on production. The result of all this painstaking process is an environment that is 10,000 times more purified than outside.
And as the coronavirus grips the world, it might just be the safest place to work right now.