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.

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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...