HP begins European jobs chop HP is beginning consultations on cutting nearly six thousand European jobs. It has given its restructuring plan to the European Works Council, which represents staff, and detailed where in Europe, and in HP, the jobs will go. HP is cutting 5,700 positions from its total European staff of 80,000. The statement said: "In …
If you're in Germany, France, etc you can probably breathe easy, because you can start a sizable bet on the majority of these jobs being targetted at the UK. After all, it's not as if the UK employees are going to start locking in their bosses (as the French do) or sic effective unions on them (as the Germans do).
My prediction? Easy - they'll shunt as much of the non-govt work that's on the books at the services arm to somewhere in Asia and then pink slip the folks currently doing it. In which case, it ain't going to be a good time to be an ex-EDS employee is it?
Funny that no-ones commented on that other companies (e.g. IBM!) are in the same markets, but don't seem to need the draconian slash-n-burn that Hurd and co seem to think is needed. So either: (a) the other companies have missed a big problem that HP's seen; or (b) HP's seeing a problem that isn't there and panicing; or (c) HP's in dire straits but not fessing up to it; or (d) it's nothing to do with 'building the business' and everything to do with pleasing the Street (Wall St) to 'build the board's bonuses and pay'.
I leave it to the readers to figure out which interpretation they believe.
Coat icon because will the last one out of the door at HP EMEA please turn off the lights?
HP has also slashed its five remaining laboratories in Bristol (HP Labs) to two as well as closing all of its Japanese research. US and Israeli sites seem to have come off almost unscathed so this looks as though the company is retrenching to the US. Speculative research is out with teams such as HP's semantic web group up and offing.
With only two labs left in Bristol - a very well respected security group and a 'cloudy-web-x.0' thing - and look how much use HP puts that type of thing too - one wonders how long HP Labs Europe has to live? The (relatively) recent director of labs, Prith Banerjee has been slashing ever since he arrived in the company - a minor academic from a provincial university, there was a lot of speculation about why he was appointed not for his research leadership anyway. Now we know - he is just there to turn the lights out :-( Of course with HP outsourcing much of its technology, why bother doing any of the research in house any more?
Bill and Dave would spin in their graves (and of course it is interesting to speculate whether they would need to contra rotate to maintain some semblance of stability.
Paris - 'cos she has done lots of research into screwing things up....
Actually Mr Banerjee reorganised the Bristol Labs into five separate Labs last year. He canned the role of Director of Bristol Labs when Robin Gallimore 'retired'. The role was shared between the remaining Lab Managers for PR purposes.
There is only one building on the Bristol site that is actually 'owned' by HP, Building 3 that used to be wholly used by 300 or so labbies back in 1998, after the round of redundancies the warm body count must be less than 80? Hey now they've got room for all those EDS folks they are moving up from Carboot Circus.
The rest of the site is now owned by UWE and a housing developer. HP must of made over £200 million quid from selling the prime real estate.
Father Jack Hackett - who use to work for CNS/RIT/RESS at HP Labs Bristol, but never RSE.
There have always been multiple laboratories in single physical locations. These have varied in number over the years as commercial pressures and technology development have evolved. What *is* the case is that last week Bristol (the European Labs Site) had
A Systems Security Lab
An Automated Infrastructure Lab
An Enterprise Informatics Lab
A Web Services and Systems Lab
A Pervasive Computing Lab
All staffed by (and I quote) "world class experts' - as of Thursday only the first two still exist and there are lots of (very good people - ebay anyone) looking for gainful employment.
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