HP: 15,000 jobs to go

NEWS Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has warned of 15,000 job cuts as part of the company's ongoing merger process with Compaq. Fiorina said 10,000 cuts will be made by 1 November this year, with the remaining 5,000 planned for fiscal 2003. Speaking at HP's first analyst meeting since the merger was approved Fiorina said the company was stepping up its aggressive cost-cutting to remove uncertainty about the combined companies' forward-looking structure. However, according to US newswires, Fiorina maintains the cuts will come through voluntary measures such as early retirement packages being offered to eligible staff, of which there are around 9,000 on the company's books. Fiorina added that HP is confident it can also make around $2.5bn worth of cuts in areas such as procurement and property. Fiorina also moved to subdue employee dissatisfaction by stating that despite Walter Hewlett's claims during their fierce battle over HP's future, neither herself nor Michael Capellas, former CEO of Compaq, will receive pay-hikes in the wake of the merger. During a bitter campaign Hewlett claimed Fiorina stood to make huge personal gains if the merger was completed. Fiorina claimed yesterday that nobody would receive a pay increase "until all employees are eligible. As such all staff must endure a pay-freeze until the market improves.