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HP tries Ancient Roman punishment on staff again

by on16 September 2015


Decimation again

When the Ancient Roman army suffered from poor performance it decimated its army – killing ten percent as warning to the rest.  

 It worked for the Roman Army but a similar strategy, by firing not killing its staff has not worked for HP.  Yet despite HP trying it several times unsuccessfully, it is giving it another go.

More than 30,000 HP staff will be fired by Christmas in the latest wave of restructuring.

The purge will occur within the newly formed Hewlett Packard Enterprise, a bundle of technology divisions focused on software, consulting and data analysis that is splitting off from the company's personal computer and printing operations.

The target means 10 to 12 percent of the 252,000 workers joining HP Enterprise will lose their jobs as part of the company's effort to reduce its expenses by $2 billion annually.

Only 50,000 workers will remain at HP, which become the new name for the company retaining the PC and printer operations.

This means that since CEO Meg Whitman took control of the company more than 88,000 people have been fired.

Mostly the problems have been caused by acquisitions that have not panned out and a slump in PC sales.

When William Hewlett and David Packard founded the company 76 years ago embraced an employee-friendly philosophy that became known as the "HP Way."

The HP Way was more or less killed off by CEO Carly Fiorina who is now a candidate for the Republican Party's nomination in the 2016 race for president.

Fiorina engineered a $25 billion acquisition of PC maker Compaq that angered many shareholders, including heirs of the company's founders. She cut more than 30,000 jobs before she was fired.

If this does not work then Meg will probably try crucifying a few – she is tough but very fair. 

 

 

Last modified on 16 September 2015
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