HP Inc to lay off up to 6,000 staff, cut costs by $1.4 billion

HP Inc. has announced it will lay off between 4,000 and 6,000 staff as part of a cost-cutting drive aimed at adding $1.4 billion to its bottom line in coming years. The PC and printer purveyor revealed the plan along with its Q4 2022 results, which saw $14.8 billion of revenue arrive – a year-on-year fall of 11 percent (and …

[Potemkine!]

We've got here a company making a lot of profit firing people to make more profit. The global effect is there will be less money in the real economy, so less money to buy HP stuff. But as the only thing that does matter is the hyped value of the HP share, it doesn't matter in the short term. At middle and long term it will be destructive for HP, but CEO doesn't care, as he won't be here anymore and he will have a collected a huge bonus.

The whole system is made to benefit a few ones at the expense of the greater number. It isn't only unfair, it's destructive and illogical at the level of the Society.

== Bring us Dabbsy back! ==

[Snake]

RE: whole system is made to benefit a few

Yep.

Every single time a company does this, based upon the simple anticipation of a slowdown ever mind an actual one, it only brings to mind the scene from The Fifth Element

www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0mO6UY6uTg

After all we wouldn't want our Overlords to suffer even the slightest inconvenience of having a pound less in their pockets, when they can make sure their slaves do the suffering instead.

[cyberdemon]

Re: RE: whole system is made to benefit a few

But of course! Bags of time for the execs involved to bail themselves out with fat bonuses and claim that they "saved the company" a ton of money. They might even get to quit the country and save themselves from the economic shitstorm that would follow from all the other execs in all the other companies having the same idea! (that is, if they can find somewhere to live that won't be affected by a global economic crash potentially followed by WWIII... Antarctica, perhaps?)

[Lon24]

Re: RE: whole system is made to benefit a few

A 10% profit margin is OK but most of that comes from printers and it don't soak up the R&D and support of computers. A bean counter might suggest - ditch computers and become a printer company.

Except the future there is not bright. The cost of toners/ink/paper is probably more than storing electronically. Plus doing that makes it more shareable and findable. At the domestic level people aren't even printing out event tickets anymore. Just flash the QR on your phone.

Hence my printer is printing less and less. To be fair HP do make good'uns, possibly too good. I''ve only had two laser ptinters in 20 odd years: the great HP4L and the current LaserJetPro 200 color - except it prints only in black'n'white because a set of colour cartridges is more than I paid for the device.

So what future? computes are cut throat and innovation is in the chips and software. Putting them together faster/cheaper is hard. It's not a place you want to end up if you are not in China. A job at HP (if you can get one) isn't the attraction it used to be.

Maybe benefit stockholders short term but HP is still a sell in the long term in my book.

[trindflo]

Optimizing for profit

Companies should optimize for profit, but long-term as well as short-term.

Removing dead product lines makes sense.

Giving up on innovation and shifting to only a mercantile model of charging rents on something that never changes is steering your ship onto the rocks in the long-term.

It isn't obvious to me from the corp-speak where they are going, but as an investor I would be suspicious.

[TonyJ]

I am surprised there's anyone left to lay off!

It seems to me that for the last decade, HP and the various arms it's split/sold off have been constantly laying off more and more staff to the point I am genuinely surprised there are enough to lay this amount more off.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I am surprised there's anyone left to lay off!

They've got to get rid of the extra headcount they acquired when they bought all those other companies!

[Youngone]

Re: I am surprised there's anyone left to lay off!

My son's company uses HP laptops and desktops and he is pretty happy with them, including after sales service, although that might change if half the techs get the bullet.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I am surprised there's anyone left to lay off!

They're usually still hiring while they're laying off. Still buying other companies. They (most companies, that is) don't often mention that part, or if they do, they couch it in some corp-speak double-talk like "re-focusing the workforce" or similar.

In spite of the impression created, layoffs don't always shrink the workforce. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if the overall headcount is higher in a year or so.

Layoffs are typically a (temporary) way of juicing the stock price or the quarterly results, or simply to make it look like the big wheels are doing something, in front of the board of directors / shareholders. The other effect is to swap some (usually higher-paid) longer-term and probably older employees for hopefully younger and cheaper models, who are more pliable to overwork and other management abuse. That's never a stated goal, of course.

That turnover comes at a price, of course, and I'm not referring to the severance packages. Even if the layoffs are carried out perfectly (and they never are), such that only the "low performers" are let go, management have still churned the workforce, causing all manner of chaos and dysfunction. Tribal knowledge and experience has walked out the door, either with a severance package or on their own, because they've seen how the company treats people and "enough is enough" etc. The ones left behind are nearly always left with more work, less resources, and less motivation. That severance package starts to look pretty good after a while.

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder ...

I wonder how many upper management if chopped would make that saving in salary, share options and expenses. Or if perks like the company jets were sold.

[bregister]

what still surprises me is

that "investors" fall for this nonsense, layoff loads of people => share price goes "up"?

[chivo243]

Re: what still surprises me is

Yep! Ye's pays ya monies, an ya takes yer chances. Maybe a cunning layoff plan will save the company, turn it around and make BIG profits! I think this is one of the Rules of Acquisition, one of the high numbers?

I'd rather play the lotto...

[Fred Daggy]

Re: what still surprises me is

Probably, more like cut as close to the bone as possible, then a little more. Those with the snouts in the trough get the info before the mug punters. First wiff of bad news, cash out and RUN.

[Doctor Tarr]

Corporate BS

Gamers will be offered "seamless experiences across PCs, displays and peripherals."

WTF does that even mean?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Corporate BS

A seamless experience is more comfortable when trousering profits....

[GruntyMcPugh]

Re: Corporate BS

Velcro trousers?

[Captain Scarlet]

Re: Corporate BS

Every device will have a HP Logo on it!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Corporate BS

It means that between Omen, VR, HyperX and Poly they think they can have a completely vertically integrated portfolio with people not having to go anywhere else. They sure as shit better figure out the issues with the Reverb G2s and their WMRP errors when using newer AMD and Intel chipsets though. Before I got laid off I must have replaced 50 to 100 cables with the newer one, which doesn't always work.

[spold]

Re: Corporate BS

"Seamless experience across" ..... there is only going to be one type of each so that's easy.

[Pascal Monett]

"it will lay off between 4,000 and 6,000 staff"

And it will do so before XMas, to make sure that everyone ends the year on a high note.

Well done, board !

I'm sure you will feel entirely entitled to this year's massive bonus.

[Captain Scarlet]

Reduce product lines

How about stop gluing monitors in on new Elitebooks where before you could use this invention called a screw.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Reduce product lines

We had a faulty laptop (no display) under warrenty so had the engineer out. Long story short - display swapped, no joy. Had to come out again for the main board. Then had to come out again because he broke the screen!! A Trigger's broom of a laptop.

[Wade Burchette]

I am doing my part

Many new HP printers are the most frustratingly difficult devices to install. Gone are the days where there was a standalone driver with simple, straightforward instructions. Gone are screens that help you connect the printer to Wi-Fi. Gone are paper instructions in the box. Now there are fancy beeps, buttons, instructions that you have to print with your paper and ink, and an app that was clearly designed by people who grew up with a smartphone in their hand. And one HP printer I had to install, the instructions that printed were wrong and had obvious spelling errors. What used to take 15 minutes to fully install now takes over 30 minutes. So, I am doing my part and will never buy a HP ink printer again.

And I have many friends whose HP laptops did not make it to 2 years. A few did not even make it to 1 year. The reliability of their computer are now garbage. One I could discount as a fluke; but when many have the same problem, it is not a fluke. So, I am doing my part and will never buy a HP computer again. Dell still makes servers and business computers in Texas, Chinese Lenovo still makes servers and gaming computers in North Carolina, but HP makes everything in China. When I ordered a gaming laptop from Lenovo - due to HP's reliability problem - it shipped from IBM's old factory in North Carolina. I couldn't help to notice the irony of a Chinese company building stuff in America but an American computer only building stuff in China.

Your welcome, HP. I used to buy a lot of stuff from you. But not anymore. I am doing my part to make your profits go down. Good job!

[BOFH in Training]

Re: I am doing my part

It's not just HP with complicated driver installations in my experience.

But as for ink printers, as far as possible, I will never buy an ink based printer. My home printer, office printers are all laser (except for an A3 printer in the office which gets rarely used).

And I have not bought any HP printer in over a decade.

[Marty McFly]

Re: I am doing my part

I helped my elderly neighbor "connect" her new HP printer. It would not activate its USB port until the device was attached to the Wifi, connected to the Internet, and the user had registered on the website - complete with credit card. What a piece of absolute consumer garbage designed to do one thing - ship out unnecessary over priced ink cartridges.

Meanwhile.... My decade plus old HP Laserjet printers keep working. No fancy drivers needed. No online registration.

Yeah, HP has a reputation for good printers. That is really all they have left. Unfortunately the company is doing everything it can to reach out of the toilet bowl and pull the flush lever themselves on that reputation.

[seldom]

Re: I am doing my part

I used to buy HP printers, then I bought Samsung printers. Satisfaction level rose enormously. Now I find that HP has bought the Samsung printer division. I had been wondering why the driver software was getting worse. Who should I buy my printer from in 5 years time (minimum) when my Samsung printer stops working.

Damnation, I just jinxed myself.

[Korev]

Among those labor[sic] costs will be the payouts required to shed between 4,000 and 6,000 staff between now and the end of FY 2025.

I guess this means that those 1000s of staff will do the bare minimum or less for the next few years which sucks for the employees (but also HP, but it was their decision, so zero sympathy)

[Korev]

> HP Inc.

"HP Ink" surely...

[Anonymous Coward]

They have been doing this since September. I would know, I got laid off. I was in Priority services support in the Commercial organization. Kind of a blessing in disguise as I got a job making 65% more but its made the last 3 months very difficult as I was not expecting it, especially as our part of the business has done well consistently. They don't want competent techs though, they want robots that wont ask questions and will just fling systemboards and displays. Its really stupid but they'll wonder why their surveys suck because all the good people either left or got laid off.

[The Oncoming Scorn]

https://preview.redd.it/management-always-knows-best-v0-9cya2qqqehy91.jpg?auto=webp&s=93155d71372865b26526465481df44740da5481c

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, they won't wonder at all. They know they're tanking quality or service etc., but their pile of MBA's have told them that's how to rake in profits for the next quarter or two, and since no one looks further out than that, it's a Big Win!

[Boris the Cockroach]

I wonder

how much of that profit is going in the form of a share buyback scheme to increase the share price even more (also increasing the C-level's share holding as well) rather than the proper way to put the share price up of investing in new products/technologies/staff to add value to the company's turnover thus increasing its profits for next year

Nope I'm being stupid again.... share buy back takes 30 seconds to show a return with no risk, investment takes 1 year to 5 years to show a return (maybe) so its buy back

[M.V. Lipvig]

I too will do my part.

My current printer is an HP that is several years old. Prints fine. But, it's been begging me to do a software update for several years as well, and I fully expect the printer to brick if I allow the update because of how old it is. Can't be forced to buy a new printer if the old one works now, can I?

If it ever does brick, it won't be replaced by an HP.

[Kevin McMurtrie]

Layoffs are the new firing

Lots of companies have regular hiring and layoff cycles that have nothing to do with the market. It's a way to continuously purge less liked employees without the mess of having to fire them.

It's a great way to transform your company into an incompetent pool of buddies and ass kissers. I've been selling my stock in any company I see doing it. The price surge that follows is as good as it's ever going to be.

[Lordrobot]

What's the matter CLOG-Oh-RAMA $120 ink jet cartridges not working out for you?

Don't worry, Ink Tanks take a bad idea to the next level and those machines are now clogging in a few weeks. But but but I kept it turned on 24 7 and bought it an electric blanket too... I cleaned it daily until the ink pad got loaded and soaked the desktop...

[spold]

There is an opportunity to significantly reduce our number of unique SKUs

....ah, you are not an Employee you are a Unique SKU, and you have just been reduced.

[Vometia has insomnia. Again.]

Re: There is an opportunity to significantly reduce our number of unique SKUs

The mind boggles; I suppose it's another way of depersonalising employees into "cost centres", in much the same way that customers were rebranded "consumers" and now "revenue streams". This business model really needs to die.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: There is an opportunity to significantly reduce our number of unique SKUs

Remember the old saw about "employees are our most valuable asset"?

Also remember that assets depreciate, and can be written off. That's what a layoff is.

[Trotts36]

Elon called it

Elon leading the way and all else following.

Cry harder lefties, your tears taste delicious

[nichomach]

Here we go again

Sounds like Apotheke mark 2 - "PCs only make 6.6% profit! We must slash them immediately!" Pardon me, sunbeam, but 6.6% profit on $44bn sales is, let me see, STILL A CHUFFING BUTTLOAD OF MONEY!

[Azamino]

Numbers

Maths is not my strongest subject but if cutting 6,000 staff saves $1.4 billion then the average saving will be circa $230,000 per staff member.

Is that a legit’ savings target?

I know that in addition to salaries there are tax and pension savings, plus buildings which can be released…