18/05/2012

Hewlett-Packard Set To Announce 30,000 Job Cuts

In one of the world’s biggest redundancy programmes in recent years Hewlett-Packard have announced it is planning to cut as many as 30,000 jobs.

The computer and software company, which employs 324,600 people worldwide, is expected to announce it is cutting 8% of its workforce when it updates shareholders on its latest financial results on Wednesday.

The cuts come as HP's new chief executive, Meg Whitman, gets to grips with the company's recent fall from grace as consumers ditch bulky PCs in favour of tablets, such as Apple's iPad. Analyst say it has also failed to keep pace with the switch to cloud computing.

HP has suffered from a lack of clear leadership, with two chief executives forced out in the last two years.

HP declined to comment on the job cuts and refused to say how many staff it employs in the UK and whether or not they would be affected. Two years ago unions accused the firm of "butchery" when it slashed 1,300 jobs in Britain. The cutbacks followed its merger with IT services rival EDS and reduced its workforce here to 6,000.

(H)


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