HP and Cisco join companies planning to lay off thousands of employees near the end of the year. The number of employees at both companies will probably be over 4,000, and at HP this could even be expanded to up to 6,000 jobs.
Weak quarter has consequences for HP
As HP explained in the quarterly report during the night, the company wants to position itself better for the future. First and foremost, this means that costs are saved, which is usually the fastest for personnel, coupled with adjustments in the group. However, this will take at least two years for the company, and in 2025 it is expected to save $1.4 billion per year when work on “digital transformation, portfolio optimization and operational efficiency” is completed. The long period leaves sufficient scope for socially acceptable job cuts in the form of early retirement with generous severance pay and the like, if that is possible. After all, HP is already planning a larger sum for this: “approximately $1.0 billion in labor and non-labor costs related to restructuring and other charges”.
In the end, HP's action is a reaction to the weak quarterly figures. Although HP calls them “solid”, the bottom line is that they fell short of all expectations, with sales in the fourth quarter falling by more than eleven percent year-on-year to $14.8 billion. Here, too, the notebook is the segment with the greatest decline in the consumer sector, with a minus of 26 percent.
Cisco is looking for suitable people – and throws out inappropriate
According to the company, industry giant Cisco will be shedding around five percent of its more than 83,000 employees in the near future. These are simply not suitable for the transformation of the company in the future, partly because of their qualifications, Cisco emphasizes that they therefore also want to hire new people. The bottom line is that at least 4,100 employees should leave in the end.
Job cuts are back on the agenda
Many companies will cut jobs in the next few months after the boom phase under Corona has ended and the mood of crisis has now taken over worldwide. The biggest layoffs are at Meta with Facebook, over 11,000 people have to go. Amazon is also said to have laid off 10,000 to possibly even 50,000 employees, but details are still pending.
Missing details are also the key word in Intel's planned restructuring. Thousands of people are likely to be affected here too, but at least CEO Pat Gelsinger also has to do his part, albeit in a different way: His extensive share package as a bonus is tied to new goals that currently seem unattainable. One of the goals requires Intel's stock price to climb to $74.47, up from $29.15 now, reports The Oregonian. Intel had lured Gelsinger, among other things, with a huge share package from VMware, a total of almost 179 million US dollars are at stake. After investors' criticism of Intel's performance this year, these payments are now linked to new and currently almost unattainable goals.