HP joins the list of tech companies to cull its workforce; to fire 6,000 employees

Laptop and electronic gadgets manufacturing giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) on Tuesday joined the long list of tech companies to have announced mass layoffs. The company, during its earnings call, said it expected to cut around 6,000 jobs by the end of fiscal 2025, which amounts to 12 per cent of its global workforce.

“The company expects to reduce gross global headcount by approximately 4,000-6,000 employees. These actions are expected to be completed by the end of fiscal 2025,” the company said in its fiscal 2022 full-year report. 

The company currently employs nearly 50,000 people and will stagger the layoffs in the coming years as part of its $1.4 billion cost-cutting plan. The decision was taken after HP reported lower sales in the PC and laptop segment. 

The sales in both segments had shot exponentially during the pandemic period but since the opening of the workplaces and schools, the sales have plateaued. 

Experts said the decision was perhaps exacerbated by the gloomy economic conditions generated by recession and sky-high inflation. 

The PC maker in its report predicted a lower-than-expected profit for the first quarter, owing to the combination of aforementioned conditions. 

“Many of the recent challenges we have seen in FY’22 will likely continue into FY’23,” said Marie Myers, chief financial officer. 

HP has also reported a 11 per cent fall in Q4 revenue, which stood at $14.8 billion, compared to the same period last year. 

The layoffs announced by HP comes in the backdrop of major tech companies such as Amazon, Meta, and Twitter slashing their workforce, primarily due to a global slowdown. 

Meta fired over 11,000 employees while Twitter showed the door to half its workforce in the first week of Elon Musk taking over the microblogging platform. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos-owned Amazon has confirmed it will be laying off 10,000 employees 

On Tuesday, several reports suggested that Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google planned to fire 10,000 or six per cent of the company’s “poor performing” employees. 

(With inputs from agencies)