HP is planning to axe about 1,124 jobs in the UK during the initial three months of 2014, with plans to slash nearly 27,000 employees across its global operations as part of downsizing.
The PC company’s latest move would impact 618 jobs at the Bracknell hub, almost 483 at Warrington and 23 at Sheffield, with no effect in Erskine, as the company is still in process of filling over 700 positions.
HP spokeswoman said that the proposed UK workforce management plan is part of the company’s global multi-year productivity initiative that was announced on 23 May 2012, and updated at its securities analysts meeting on 9 October 2013, to deal with current market and business pressures in support of its turnaround.
"HP remains committed to supporting the employability of its employees through a number of internal initiatives, including re-skilling, redeployment and support to obtain alternative employment as appropriate," spokeswoman added.
However, Unite, which is the British and Irish trade union, condemned HP’s move and alleged it of being ‘a long-term addict to a culture of job cuts’.
Unite national officer Ian Tonks said for the last five years HP has been addicted to a culture of job cuts in the UK to such an extent that its highly skilled workforce has little faith in the way the company is being managed and will be going forward.
"Unite will be doing everything possible to mitigate these job losses which are a hammer blow to the UK’s IT sector and very distressing for employees in the run-up to Christmas," Tonks said.
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"At the recent re-negotiation of the European works council (EWC), senior European managers were unable to answer any questions about the future EWC, as they could not get hold of their American bosses because of last week’s Thanksgiving holiday," Tonks added.
"It’s no wonder there is so little faith in the European management."
HP has been experiencing drop in demand for its core desktop computers, while also struggled to implement to consumers’ preference for laptop and tablet devices.
