HP To Layoff 4,000 To 6,000 Staff Over Next Three Years

Tom Jowitt,
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HP Chromebook 13_1

Smaller still. Thousands of job cuts are coming to HP’s global workforce, in addition to the 9,000 jobs it axed three years ago

Computer maker HP on Tuesday became the latest tech firm to announce thousands of job cuts to its workforce.

During its fourth quarter and annual results, HP revealed it plans to cut 4,000 to 6,000 employees over the next three years, CNBC reported.

Job cuts at HP mirror recent headcount reductions at other tech firms, but what makes this unusual is the fact that HP in 2019 already eliminated between 7,000 and 9,000 staffers.

Quarterly declines

To be fair HP is contending with a post pandemic world after Covid-19 and the resulting lockdowns triggered a surge in PC spending from people who were stuck at home.

But since then PC shipments have declined dramatically.

IDC in October revealed that declines continued in the third quarter for the traditional PC market with a 15 percent decline year-on-year.

Examining HP’s fourth quarter results may explain why HP’s management felt it had to cut costs once again.

For the fourth quarter HP posted a net loss of $2m, compared a net profit of $3bn in the same year-ago quarter.

Quarterly revenue also declined to $14.8bn from $16.7bn a year earlier.

Meanwhile annual profits fell to $3.2bn from $6.5bn in 2021, and year-end revenues slipped to $63bn from $63.5bn in 2021.

HP also announced downbeat earnings guidance.

Reducing costs

CNBC reported that HP on Tuesday outlined the details about its “Future Ready Transformation plan”, which should result in annualised gross run rate savings of $1.4 billion or more in the next three years, with around $1 billion in costs including restructuring.

“We had a solid end to our fiscal year despite navigating a volatile macro-environment and softening demand in the second half. In Q4 we delivered on our non-GAAP EPS target, while also completing our three-year value creation plan and exceeding our key metrics,” said Enrique Lores, HP President and CEO.

“Looking forward, the new Future Ready strategy we introduced this quarter will enable us to better serve our customers and drive long-term value creation by reducing our costs and reinvesting in key growth initiatives to position our business for the future,” said Lores.

As of October 2021, HP had around 51,000 employees.