Hewlett-Packard to cut 27,000 jobs

Hewlett-Packard to cut 27,000 jobs

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Saying it needed to reduce expenses to reinvigorate its struggling business, Hewlett Packard on Wednesday said it will cut its workforce by 27,000 employees, while reporting a drop in sales and profit for its second quarter.

The cuts, which amount to about 8 percent of the company’s global workforce and will be completed by next year, are to be partly accomplished through an early retirement program, the Palo Alto, Calif., company said. Other expenses will be trimmed by refining its business operations, it said.

“These initiatives build upon our recent organizational realignment, and will further streamline our operations, improve our processes, and remove complexity from our business,” CEO Meg Whitman said in a statement. “While some of these actions are difficult because they involve the loss of jobs, they are necessary to improve execution and to fund the long-term health of the company. We are setting HP on a path to extend our global leadership and deliver the greatest value to customers and shareholders.”

HP said its sales for the quarter were $30.7 billion, down 3 percent from a year ago. It had a profit of $1.6 billion, down 31 percent from the same period a year ago, which amounted to 80 cents per share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson-Reuters on average had predicted HP would report sales for the quarter totaling $29.9 billion and earnings of 73 cents per share.

By wire sources