HP to slash 24,000 jobs in restructure

Hewlett Packard will lay off some 24,600 staff (7.5% of its global workforce), nearly half in the US, and take a  £944m charge against earnings as it starts to absorb EDS, the IT services company it bought in August for £7.22bn.

HP expects to save £1bn a year. It will take three years to complete the process . It promised to provide employees affected by the restructure with severance packages, counseling and help to find another job.

It said it will replace about half the redundant positions over the next three years "to create a global workforce that has the right blend of service delivery capabilities to address the diversity of its markets and customers worldwide."

A Public and Commercial Services Union spokesman expected that HP would cut about 10% of its UK workforce or 1500 employees.