HP is expected to initiate a corporate restructuring within the next two weeks that could see as many as 15,000 layoffs. Analyst firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co said that HP could slash between five and 10 per cent of its 150,000 employees. Other analysts are predicting similar figures.
The threat of mass layoffs has hung over the vendor ever since Mark Hurd took over as chief executive from Carly Fiorina last March. Hurd has repeatedly said that he sees cutting costs as his primary mission, but has been short on details. HP has realigned some of its senior management positions in recent weeks, hiring a former PalmOne executive to head up the systems group that makes desktop and laptop computers, as well as snatching a chief information officer from Dell.