HP CEO Mark Hurd is after a big bonus.....at the expense of 14,500 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

boneheaddoctor · #1 07-19-2005, 10:05 AM

Hewlett-Packard said Tuesday it will slash its work force by 14,500 jobs, or about 10 percent, the biggest move yet by new Chief Executive Mark Hurd as he seeks to boost the No. 2 computer maker's profitability.

HP, which employs about 150,000 workers across the globe, said the majority of staff reductions will come in support functions, such as information technology, human resources and finance. The remainder will be made inside business units, in areas where work can be reduced by improving processes.

The cuts, which are expected to save HP $1.9 billion annually, are the biggest since former CEO Carly Fiorina slashed thousands of jobs after HP's controversial $19 billion acquisition of rival Compaq Computer in May 2002.

Hurd has said that HP needs to get its costs more in line with other technology companies, such as Dell, the hyper-efficient No. 1 PC maker.

"They've gotten themselves in fighting shape here," said Caris & Co. analyst Mark Stahlman, who said the announcement should eliminate uncertainty in the workforce as well. "I think this is going to give a big boost to morale internally."

Its shares hit a high unseen since January 2004 on Monday, in anticipation of the announcement. The restructuring included changes to workers' benefit plan and the elimination of the Customer Solutions Group, a standalone business group responsible for sales to business and public-sector customers.

Palo Alto, California-based HP said it would carry out the widely anticipated restructuring and job cuts over the next year and a half, during which it expects to record pretax restructuring charges of about $1.1 billion.

Beginning in fiscal 2007, HP expects ongoing annual savings of about $1.9 billion, composed of $1.6 billion in labor costs and $300 million in benefits savings. In fiscal 2006, HP expects savings of between $900 million and $1.05 billion.

The company said that the savings will be reinvested in the business to boost competitiveness, with some also expected to flow through to operating profit. The cuts inside business units were planned for areas where work can be reduced through streamlining and prioritization.

Analysts had been expecting as many as 25,000 job cuts from Hurd, who joined HP in April from NCR Corp. following the ouster of Fiorina in February.

The company has already trimmed jobs in its lucrative imaging and printing business. In May about 2,000 workers in that unit accepted voluntary severance packages.

HP's fiscal third quarter concludes at the end of July.

© 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

aklim · #2 07-19-2005, 10:42 AM

If he can improve the profitability of the comapny and make it $2 billion, he should get a big bonus. If he fails, well he will follow Carly then.

boneheaddoctor · #3 07-19-2005, 11:07 AM

they fudge numbers to make it look bad before..then fudge the numbers afterwards to make it look better...all smoke and mirrors....but by god I am certain him and his cronies are going to rape the company of 10 times what any real savings are....

Brian Carlton · #4 07-19-2005, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boneheaddoctor

....but by god I am certain him and his cronies are going to rape the company of 10 times what any real savings are....

........damn, it must be nice to have that clairvoyance.........been to Vegas lately.........might get you off the keyboard at Verizon.

boneheaddoctor · #5 07-19-2005, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

........damn, it must be nice to have that clairvoyance.........been to Vegas lately.........might get you off the keyboard at Verizon.

what claravoyance...its happens at every large company...

diametricalbenz · #6 07-19-2005, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Hurd has said that HP needs to get its costs more in line with other technology companies, such as Dell, the hyper-efficient No. 1 PC maker.

Dell is not "hyper efficient". They completely dropped the ball on orders, omitted parts, misshipped product to end users all in a delivery time of 4 weeks. HP may be less cost efficient but their logistics and supply system is much better.

boneheaddoctor · #7 07-19-2005, 11:25 AM

Hell they could save 4 or 5,000 of those jobs by triming back on excessive executive perks if they really cared about the company...but thats never gonna happen.

Brian Carlton · #8 07-19-2005, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diametricalbenz

Dell is not "hyper efficient". They completely dropped the ball on orders, omitted parts, misshipped product to end users all in a delivery time of 4 weeks. HP may be less cost efficient but their logistics and supply system is much better.

I'm inclined to agree with this. I've used HP customer service for a balky "all-in-one" and they remained on the phone for three hours to reconfigure the registry due to faulty software interfaces between the computer and the all-in-one. Very patient and quite knowledgeable.

Now, call Dell and see what you get.

My next P/C is likely to be an HP instead of this Dell. And, I am reasonably satisfied with the Dell, but, the support from India is a problem.

boneheaddoctor · #9 07-19-2005, 11:29 AM

I can guarantee you some of the peons laid off at HP are the people who do the customer support and service.....I'm curious how many paper pushers get the cut....

#10 07-19-2005, 11:49 AM

Maybe HP will do the firing by highest web forum post count during work hours.

boneheaddoctor · #11 07-19-2005, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MedMech

Maybe HP will do the firing by highest web forum post count during work hours.

Hell that would get rid of most of management if they did that.

How about counting solitare games....

Chris Bell · #12 07-19-2005, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boneheaddoctor

they fudge numbers to make it look bad before..then fudge the numbers afterwards to make it look better...all smoke and mirrors....but by god I am certain him and his cronies are going to rape the company of 10 times what any real savings are....

Proof please...
Oh, try reading Sarbanes-Oxley, all sorts of nasty penalties in there for "fudging" the numbers. Start with section 301, the first 29 or so pages are real boring

boneheaddoctor · #13 07-19-2005, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Bell

Proof please...
Oh, try reading Sarbanes-Oxley, all sorts of nasty penalties in there for "fudging" the numbers. Start with section 301, the first 29 or so pages are real boring

depends on your definition of fudging the numbers....or their lawyers version of fudging them....personally my idea is far stricter..and don't believe it still isn't happening...its just less overt now.

PatrickW · #14 07-19-2005, 08:37 PM

I've got to chime in here...

I left a six-figure position at HP about 6 months ago, having survived numerous (8 to be exact) layoffs - or in HP speak, "WFR's", which stands for Work Force Reduction.

In my case, I - like many others - had become dissillusioned working for HP, and was keeping my eyes open for an attractive position with another company. When I obtained that position, I left HP.

HP is a big company, and I can only speak for what I saw and experienced. In my business unit, most of the guys had been there either "over 25 years" or "under 5 years". Very few in between.

The implications of that are that HP has not been able to *retain* talent. Older guys are marking time until retirement, and the younger guys don't stick around.

Since having left HP, I have been approached numerous times by former colleagues who are seeking to leave.

I eventually became embarrassed to work at HP, having seen first hand the recent quality control issues. In social situations I would try to avoid talking about "work", because I got tired of people always asking about whatever crisis HP happened to be in at the time.

Bottom line - I'm now working at a company where I make *almost* as much as I made at HP, and I am home every night, and I'm happy.

I also recently nixed a multi-million dollar contract on behalf of my current employer between them and HP.

- Patrick

#15 07-19-2005, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Bell

Proof please...
Oh, try reading Sarbanes-Oxley, all sorts of nasty penalties in there for "fudging" the numbers. Start with section 301, the first 29 or so pages are real boring

Ya see Chris Bonehead has been a customer of and worked for someone that worked for HP. He has the inside scoop, so don't bother with your little facts, superior education or anything else that any reasonable person would deem credible because in boneshead its what happens.