Joint letter from UNI-Europa and EMF to Francesco Serafini, HP Managing Director Europe, concerning the job cuts in Europe

Brussels, 21 December 2005
10757/BS/SD

Dear Mr Serafini,

We are writing to you on behalf of the EMF and UNI Europa, the two European trade union organisations that represent employees in the IT sector and in HP as well.

We are seriously concerned about the job cuts announced by HP with some 14'500 jobs to disappear worldwide and more than 6'000 in Europe. We are afraid that redundancies of this size will come with many personal sacrifices and individual hardships, which should be avoided and reduced to the minimum.

Apart from the fact that some countries are affected disproportionately, we are more worried about the lack of a discernible and cohesive business strategy that is guiding the envisaged restructuring.

From what is going on currently one might get the impression that people have to pay with their jobs to please Wall Street and shareholders.

Our member organisations, who are dealing with your national and local management report to us, that the downsizing process is not lead by clear business objectives and the impact on people's mood and motivation is devastating. They have urged us to address their concerns directly with you.

This is why we suggest to meet with you at your earliest convenience in order to learn more about HP's rationale behind the current restructuring and share with you the grievance and sorrows of HP employees that have been brought to our attention.

Yours sincerly,
UNI-Europa EMF
Bernadette Ségol Peter Scherrer
Regional secretary General secretary

HP chief outlines his expansion strategy

"Mark Hurd, chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, on Tuesday outlined a three-pronged strategy for expanding the world's second biggest computer maker by capitalising on growing demand for digital printing, mobile computing, and software and equipment for a new generation of corporate data systems.

"[These trends] play to our strengths . . . and we are going to take advantage of them," said Mr Hurd, who has been charged with turning round HP after several years of inconsistent results and stock market underperformance.

Speaking at his first analyst meeting since he replaced Carly Fiorina as chief executive this year, Mr Hurd said HP expected revenue growth of 4-6 per cent for the year ending in October 2007.

HP also announced an expansion into the European imaging and printing market with the acquisition of bilderservice.de, the German owner of Pixaco, an online photo printing service.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, comes on the heels of HP's purchase of Snapfish, a US-based online photo service with 20m registered customers.

It represents the latest in a series of moves intended to transform HP's imaging and printing business, best known for its desktop printers, into a key driver of growth by expanding into the market for commercial-scale printing, digital photos and copying as well as other high-end imaging services.

HP will also try to take advantage of a shift towards decentralised, low-cost corporate IT systems, or "data centre architectures", which are less labour-intensive but require more sophisticated management software than traditional mainframe computers.

Mr Hurd said HP would focus on providing mobile computing services that allow customers to access data securely wherever they want.

Mr Hurd did not announce any new restructuring in addition to a $1.9bn "catch-up action" unveiled in July, which has seen HP shed about 15,300 jobs and restructure its salesforce and IT systems.

However, he indicated the company would keep watching costs as it attempted to adapt to a trend towards lower operating margins in the computer industry.

Shares in HP fell 2.5 per cent to $29.22 in midday trading in New York."

Mr Hurd, where is your expansion strategy ?

Mark Hurd will slice 15300 jobs, up from the 14500 initially planned

ZDnet

"HP announced additional job cuts Thursday after it reported that fourth-quarter earnings rose 7 percent, exceeding analyst expectations.

Without the special charges, HP earned $1.5bn, or 51 cents a share. Analysts expected the number two personal computer maker to earn 46 cents per share, according to a survey by Thomson First Call.

HP's profits were partially eaten up by $1.57bn in retirement and severance packages for 15,300 employees who will be leaving the company in the next 15 months. That number adds 800 layoffs not factored in to the 14,500 announced in July by chief executive Mark Hurd.

"On July 19, we had a model. As we discussed then, we had to operationalise [sic] the model, and 14,500 moved to 15,300," Hurd said during a conference call with reporters. "It was our best view at the time."

The Inquirer

"HP will cut even more staff after its CEO Mark Hurd announced financial results showing a 62 per cent drop in its financial fourth quarter profit.

Reliable sources warn the job cuts will affect support as HP recruits additional outsourcing partners. Many of these are in the learning stage but that's going to change.

For example, in Germany, a number of units are expected to go to partners in former East Germany. Customers expecting mission critical support will change from specialised standby engineers to re-vamped "support centres".

Some engineers will go to Synstar or suffer the WFR (workforce reduction).

Another insider said: "HP is mostly like a black hole. First growing after acquiring customers then imploding to a small black area invisible to the market." From which you will gather that morale within the ranks of HP is still not brilliant."

HP quarterly net profit falls on job cut charges

Clic on title for more info

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - No. 2 computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. on Thursday posted a lower quarterly net profit, due in part to charges related to ongoing jobs cuts.

Per-share results excluding items beat the average Wall Street estimate and shares of HP rose nearly 3 percent in extended trade. Net income for its fourth fiscal quarter ended Oct. 31 fell to $416 million, or 14 cents per share, from $1.09 billion, or 37 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $22.9 billion from $21.4 billion.

Excluding items, HP said its profit rose to 51 cents per share, compared with the average Wall Street estimate of 46 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates. Revenue was pegged at $22.8 billion.

HP is in the process of rolling through job cuts of nearly 15,000 it announced in July to help cut annual costs by almost $2 billion. The company's per-share results, excluding items, in all four fiscal 2005 quarters have topped average Wall Street expectations as its businesses have improved.

For the current, first quarter, HP said it expects earnings per share before items of 46 cents to 48 cents, excluding 3 cents to 4 cents of stock-based compensation expense.

Analysts currently expect Palo Alto, California-based HP to earn 44 cents per share, on average, before items, in the first quarter.

So far this year, HP is the best performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, with a gain of some 35 percent, based on Wednesday's closing price. Over the same period, shares of IBM, also a Dow component, have declined some 12 percent. The index is down roughly 1 percent on the year.

HP shares rose 73 cents, or 2.6 percent, to close at $29.00 on the New York Stock Exchange. In extended trade on Inet, the shares climbed to $29.80.

Hewlett Packard aims to transfer the jobs from Erskine, Renfrewshire, to the Czech Republic

Times (Scotland) , Nov. 9, 2005
An electronics giant announced plans yesterday to make 200 contract staff redundant at one of its plants in Scotland.

Hewlett Packard aims to transfer the jobs from Erskine, Renfrewshire, to the Czech Republic, reducing its Scottish workforce by a tenth.In a statement, the company said: "We have taken this decision as part of our global supply chain strategy to drive increased value for our customers and ensure that we remain competitive in the marketplace." The company went on to say that they remained "committed to our presence in Scotland".Jim Sheridan, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, accused Hewlett Packard of "corporate greed" and called for new laws to ensure that companies carry out proper consultations.He said: "This is devastating for the local community, the workers and their families. It's just sheer corporate greed coupled with the opportunity to exploit Eastern European cheap labour."More than 2,000 people are employed on the Erskine site in manufacturing, sales and customer service.

The Herald (Scotland) / Nov. 09 2005

The decision by HP will bring further pressure on the government to tighten up its employment legislation.The jobs, which have been outsourced to Foxconn, a Hewlett-Packard partner, will move to Pardubice in the Czech Republic.Tina Green, HP's director of government and public affairs, said: "The announcement is part of HP's strategy to use partners such as Foxconn to take on the large volume manufacturing of less complex products."Working in partnership with HP, Foxconn will be able to achieve greater competitiveness through economies of scale, vertical integration of the manufacturing process, and by applying their expertise in low cost manufacturing. This strategy allows HP to focus on our core competencies of innovation and high value services."Ms Green added that the "higher-skill operation" employment base, customer support, and sales call centre positions at Erskine would be unaffected. Jim Sheridan, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, who condemned the job losses, intends to call on the government to take steps to give workers more protection from the whims of multinationals.He said: "This is just corporate greed with employees thrown on the scrapheap. The only thing that is going to stop this is improved and effective employment legislation. Again the consultation process, so called, with HP is a farce. "These decisions are made with little or no feelings for those who have lost their jobs or the wider community. This is about exploiting cheap labour costs in Eastern Europe."Stephen Boyd, assistant secretary of the STUC, said: "It is a long-standing problem that these multinationals are able to treat Scottish workers in this way. The outsourcing of low value manufacturing jobs is happening time and again, and we really have to ask where large numbers of people will find employment in the future."Last month, The Herald revealed workers at the plant were being sent home during quiet periods, but expected to finish shifts at later dates. The workers said they owed the company hundreds of hours and were being forced to give up days off to make up for the "lost" time.Hewlett Packard transferred 260 staff contracts to employment agency Manpower two years ago, and it is understood the majority of those affected by the cuts are employed by Manpower and Excel.

Nice !

HP Work Force Reduction

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HP'colleagues, broadcast here your input!

Last minute : news from Germany

European Unions in action

In the US

HP strategy : explanations needed !

"I Want HP to be a boring company"

HP layoffs : European Commission involved !

A meeting in Brussels has been organized by the EMF (European Metalworkers' Federation) with Fernando Vasquez (Adviser to the General Corporate restructuring, European Commission, Directorate-General Director for Social Employment Affairs and Equal Opportunities ) accompanied by two experts.

EMF was represented by 9 people of 4 different nationalities of which Peter Scheerer, Secretary-general of the EMF, only interlocutor recognized by the European Commission.

Writer of this summary is Marc-Antoine Marcantoni, responsible for HP case within the EMF.

Fernando Vasquez read the letter sent by the French Government seizing the European Commission, and indicated that it had met representatives of the direction of HP which gave him few information. HP Management told them that delocalized employment would be around weak qualification! It is of course contrary with the reality of the HP project and we made the demonstration of it.

The European Commission is taking HP case very seriously and held a meeting as of September 30th about restructuring projects in Europe with HP like central subject. The Commission notes that a great part of the delocalizations take place inside the European zone, and thus from the employment removed in France, Germany, Holland, the United Kingdom will find themselves in Wroclaw, Bucarest and Bratislava. They were interested and anxious to note that these jobs will go later further to Asia and will not remain in Eastern Europe.

The Commission will play the following roles on HP subject :

- Legal to make sure that the consultations of the EC European are done while following the law strictly. A debate took place on the refusal of access of independent observers, the lack of transmitted information and the confidentiality imposed by HP.
- Instrumental with the installation of specific devices to minimize the social consequences.
- Strategic because HP project is causing a shock wave in the EC on the delocalization of added value employment. Where are the European jobs of tomorrow ? Which strategy and R/D in Europe for the large multinationals like HP ?. These subjects cannot remain taboos any more.

Next Stages:
- European Commission restructuring meeting on September 30th in Brussels
- EMF Meeting about HP with all the countries on October 27th in Brussels
- EMF Meeting with Mr Spidla, head of Social Employment Affairs at the EC, proposed by the European Commission
- EMF Meeting with Fernando Serafini asked by the FEM
- HP case highlighted at the European Trade Union Confederation (Etuc)

More infos on EMF which gathers 65 trade unions in 33 countries of Europe and represents in Europe our social, political and economic interests : http://www.emf-fem.org
One of its subjects of predilection : the unexploited know-how of European workers.

HP could cut fewer jobs in France than it first announced

PARIS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - HP could cut fewer jobs in France than it first announced, a French minister said following talks with HP executives on Monday, announcing what could mark a small victory for the government.

President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin have led efforts to force HP to rethink plans to cut 1,240 jobs in France -- a sensitive issue as the government is seeking to reduce unemployment running at close to 10 percent.

Labour Relations Minister Gerard Larcher said the head of HP's European operations, Francesco Serafini, had explained the company's position during talks on Monday afternoon.

"(Serafini) confirmed that the number of 1,240 job cuts put forward so far was not definitive and could thus be revised downwards," Larcher's ministry said in a statement after the talks.

"The minister took note of these commitments and of the assurances given as to the lasting presence of Hewlett-Packard in France," the ministry said, adding Larcher hoped for a constructive dialogue between HP management and workers.

If the job reductions are confirmed to be significantly less than announced, the news would spell a victory for the government of Villepin, who has defended a policy he calls "economic patriotism" in vowing to take a tough line against any company moves that are not in France's interest.

...

Starck told Le Figaro newspaper that the U.S. computer company had no plans to quit France, despite the dispute.

CODE OF CONDUCT

Villepin said the "code of good conduct" for companies should focus on respect for the law, clarification of rules for firms receiving public aid, and better information for the authorities on companies planning major restructuring.

"We hope that everyone is assessing what each job represents, and what consequences it can imply in terms of personal drama, what difficulties for family life," Villepin said on a visit to the central city of Tours.

"This is not about introducing burdensome systems, which would constitute barriers. What we want is to be able to accompany everyone so that the general interest is being preserved."

Villepin said he was very attached to the presence of HP in France, where the firm accounted for some 5,000 jobs. He said he hoped the company's reorganisation would be negotiated with its workers, and the impact on jobs reduced as much as possible.

France keeps up pressure on Hewlett-Packard jobs

France keeps up pressure on Hewlett-Packard jobs
Fri Sep 23, 2005 11:26 AM ET OYONNAX, France, Sept 23 (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin maintained pressure on Hewlett-Packard Co. on Friday, calling on the U.S. computer company to rethink its plan to cut 1,240 jobs in France.

The conservative government, under pressure to reduce unemployment from close to 10 percent, has scheduled a meeting with the firm's European head, Francesco Serafini, and referred its job-cut plans to the European Commission for review.

HP said in July it would axe about 10 percent of its work force to cut costs by $1.9 billion a year. The world's second-biggest computer maker has said a total of 2,500 jobs will go in Germany and Britain, in addition to the 1,240 in France.
The EU Commission has said it has no power to prevent HP dismissing workers. But France's conservative government has stepped up rhetoric over the case this week, making clear it is ready to put up a fight.
Labour Relations Minister Gerard Larcher is set to meet Serafini on Monday.
Villepin is trying to win back voters' confidence after they rejected the European Union's constitution in a referendum in May. Many French people said they voted "No" because of job concerns.

Chirac Calls on EU to Examine HP Plan

PARIS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - President Jacques Chirac has asked the French government to refer Hewlett-Packard's plan to cut jobs in France to the European Commission, a source close to the president said on Tuesday. "On the question of the announcement of the reduction in (the number of) workers at the Hewlett-Packard group, he asked the government to pursue all the efforts underway to respond," the source said.

"Given the impact of this plan throughout Europe, he asked the government to refer it to the European Commission," the source added.

News of the group's job cuts in France emerged earlier this month and was a blow to Chirac's conservative government, which has made tackling an unemployment rate of almost 10 percent a top priority.

"For the time being the Commission has not received anything but once we do, we will take it very seriously and look into it," said European Commission employment spokeswoman Katharina von Schnurbein.

In France, Thousands of HP Workers Walk Off Job in Protest !

HP to cut 1,500 jobs in Germany, 1240 in France, 968 in Britain

LONDON/FRANKFURT/PARIS, Sept 13 (Reuters + AP) - Hewlett-Packard will cut 2,500 jobs in Germany and Britain, it said on Tuesday -- a sixth of the jobs it plans to slash worldwide as it slims down to compete in cut-throat printer and computer markets.

The world's second-biggest computer maker said it would cut 1,500 jobs in Germany and 968 jobs in Britain as it streamlines its global workforce to save $1.9 billion a year.

In Germany, Europe's biggest economy, HP will lose a sixth of its staff by the end of next year, adding to anxieties about record unemployment there ahead of a general election on Sunday which Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is expected to lose.

A spokesman for HP Germany said all the company's main divisions would be affected, and that negotiations had begun with trade unions.

In Britain, the jobs will be cut over the next 12 months. A spokesman said production there would be little affected, with the job cuts mainly in human resources, IT and finance.

He would not give a figure for compulsory redundancies, saying it was too early in the process.

HP's five British sites -- Bracknell, Bristol, Glasgow, Reading and Warrington -- will all see job cuts but Glasgow will not be heavily affected because it is a production centre. "It is all about streamlining the company," the UK spokesman said.

In France, Workers' unions called a one-day national strike to protest planned job cuts...

The walkout is scheduled for Friday at the company's sites across France, with a march scheduled near its main offices.

1,240 of a total 4,800 jobs will be cut in France. France's employment minister, Gerard Larcher, will meet with company executives on Friday.

The job cuts, announced by new Chief Executive Mark Hurd in July, are the deepest since ousted CEO Carly Fiorina cut around the same number of staff in May 2002 after HP bought rival Compaq Computer.

On Aug. 16, HP posted quarterly results that topped Wall Street forecasts as its personal and business computer units showed strong improvement.

But analysts still want HP to cut more jobs, to spin off its lucrative imaging and printing group or to divest its personal computing business, where costs are still higher than those of Dell, its bigger rival.

HP's shares, which have outperformed the DJ Industrial Average by 44 percent over the past 12 months, were trading 0.8 percent lower at $27.52

Last Friday, union officials said Hewlett-Packard was axing 6,000 jobs in Europe, with more than half the cuts in France, Germany and Britain.

Friday's news emerged as European finance ministers met in Manchester, where Britain's Gordon Brown urged action to make Europe a "high growth, low unemployment" area instead of a continent plagued by low growth and high unemployment.

Hewlett-Packard to cut 6000 jobs in Europe

HP did not say how many of the cuts would be voluntary or give a breakdown of the number of jobs to be shed in each country. HP's European spokeswoman Anette Nachbar said the company was under a legal obligation in many countries to inform workers' representatives before announcing the cuts.

"The local consultation processes are still ongoing," Nachbar said. She confirmed that the 5,900 European layoffs are part of a plan announced in July to cut 14,500 jobs worldwide and overhaul HP's retirement plan in order to save $1.9 billion a year.
HP France, the French arm of the company, confirmed that 1,240 jobs will be shed in France, where the company employs about 4,800 workers.
Germany's IG Metall trade union said HP had not yet notified staff representatives of any job cuts there but that an announcement on possible reductions was expected this week.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP employs about 44,000 workers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but Nachbar said the company does not disclose the numbers of people it employs in individual countries.
HP is fighting to stay competitive with formidable rivals like International Business Machines Corp. in the high-end market and Dell Inc. in budget PCs.
Announcing the French job cuts, HP France said the layoffs had been decided "to safeguard the future" of the company.
Although the cuts will not contribute significantly to France's jobless rate -- currently at 9.9 percent -- they come at a sensitive time for President Jacques Chirac's conservative government as it struggles to contain union protests against labor-market reforms and boost flagging economic morale.
France's Deputy Labor Minister Gerard Larcher said he will meet HP executives Friday to discuss the planned cuts, vowing to "make sure the company takes all its responsibilities toward the employees concerned."
Michel Destot, the Socialist deputy mayor of the southern France city of Grenoble -- where HP has one of its French plants -- said the layoffs were "unacceptable" and demanded that HP managers also meet local politicians to discuss scaling back the job cuts.
"We have the capacity in France to have Hewlett-Packard sites that can develop," Destot said in an interview with France-2 television.
Shares of Hewlett-Packard fell 5 cents to $27.68 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

HP European Work Council strongly disagrees !

"The EWC met with EMEA Management for an exceptional meeting in Bruselles on September 8/9 2005. The cause of this meeting was to be informed and consulted about the planned reorganization in EMEA, as announced already on a worldwide basis by our CEO Mark Hurd in July 19th. The EWC strongly disagrees with the proposed Work Force Management (WFR) related actions and move of many jobs ouside our countries. Management presented a lot of information to the EWC. But for the purpose of consultation the EWC expects still more knowledgeable information on top of this. The actions presented show a wide range of expected cost saving. The EWC addressed the need to let these projected cost savings prove to be right, before they have an effect in Workforce management numbers. The EWC is strongly convinced, that the proposed headcount reduction can be mitigated, if management would consider : better use of internal redeployment processes improvements in re-skilling activites of our colleagues ; optimization and reduction of internal processes in order to get more focus on the real job ; re-evaluate the proposed outsourcing plans in order to keep HP employees in their jobs ; give support to employees in finding alternatives inside or event outside HP and provide enough time for redeployment- giving work council enough time and resource to help employees ; if no alternative possible, intense use of part-time work should be considered ; fair and equitable conditions (severance packages, Social Plan) for all employees affected in Europe. The EWC asks management to focus onto new markets, products and services in order to ensure the European growth path for hp and therefore secure our jobs in Europe"

September 8, 2005 International Day of Action !

First there was Carly, then came Mark Hurd...

First there was Carly, then came Mark Hurd, officially hired the 1st of April 2005. But as soon as by March 25th (!), he had already decided how he will permanently measure HP business groups as far as workforce is concerned : "Reduce workforce in high-cost countries and accelerate hiring in low-cost countries".

Well, we believe the HP Workforce and customers of "high-cost" countries have a few words to say...and this is the place.

This forum has been created by HP employees from several countries who challenge a strategy where the CEO is the stock price. We want HP to succeed with employees, not against them. Current employee value and the role they can play in the success of HP have been under-estimated and we think it is time to ask for a change in Mark Hurd's business review "hp confidential" templates...