19 Feb 2009
HP faces the threat of further employee unrest after announcing a plan to cut the wages of its global workforce by five per cent.
The move came after the technology giant announced a 13.5 per cent fall in its first-quarter profit.
The pay decrease could affect up to 300,000 staff, with higher cuts possible for senior management.
Last month, employees of HP and EDS demonstrated outside company offices across Europe in protest at plans to cut 3,400 staff following the merger of the two suppliers. Members of the Unite trade union took part in protests in London and Bristol as part of a European day of action also targeting sites in Austria, Belgium, Italy, Spain, France and Germany.
Unite national officer Peter Skyte said HP UK staff will feel particularly hard done by if they are affected by the proposed pay cut.
"UK employees who have made a key contribution to the doubling of the HP services revenue and borne the brunt of redundancies in Europe will be astonished that a company that is increasing revenue and still making substantial profits is seeking a pay cut from its UK workforce,” he said.
“The company has today told us that in the UK any pay reduction will only be with employee agreement and that no coercion will be applied, and we will be seeking written assurances about this when we meet the company next week.”
I think it is time for Arren to wake up! Do you really think that no lay-offs will happen after the salary cuts? Get real. There is still a workforce reduction in process for 25,000 people who have to be sacked (mainly EDS employees). I know ex HP people who voluntary cut their salaries with 5% a couple of years ago and most of them were fired 6 months later because they were redundant. There's your security, so go on and you cut your salary by 5% but I'm not throwing money in to pay for the bonuses & expenses of Mr. Hurd cs. Keep dreaming Arren!
Posted by: EDS realist 09 Mar 2009
Asking for employees to take a paycut and/or enforcing paycuts only adds to the global economical recession. We've been informed that the targets that are set have not been adjusted to the current economic downfall and will not be. We're all basically taking a cut, so that the big man can meet his targets and get his bonus.
Posted by: Never-You-Mind 27 Feb 2009
I work for one of HP's biggest competitors in "some" spaces of activity. My employer is a US multinational. We have had a 5% cut in staff, but we still had a payrise like most years, we still had a bonus, and our company demonstrably lives up to its assertion that "Employees are our most valuable asset".
Shame on you, the HP Board for your morally bankrupt treatment of those who should be valued, if you treat your employees this badly it will come back and haunt you.
Posted by: Shame on you, HP 27 Feb 2009
20% of $1,450,000 would mean that Mr Hurd cannot have some luxury or another holiday, how ever those staff that will be hit with a 5% pay reduction will probably be already living hand to mouth , with too much month left at the end of the money EVERY month. So this pay cut will hurt the heart of the company...not the senior management who are just trying to protect their inflated stock options, which are not touched by a pay cut.
Posted by: unhappy employee 26 Feb 2009
Some people within HP UK have had no pay rises for 9-10 years. I know because I am one of them. Everybody has to say "no" to taking this cut. It will not save your job and you will have cost yourself some redundancy money when they get around to redundancies whch is a certaintity.
Posted by: No Way I am Taking a pay cut! 26 Feb 2009
Since when has making 1.9 Billion dollars net profit in a little over 12 weeks been a legitimate excuse to cut the salaries of hundreds of thousands of people world wide? I would suggest never in a million years, Mark Hurd has revealed his true colors with this one.
I'd say that it's time to say enough is enough - the top six people in HP took home $143 million dollars in 2008. Absolutely shameful see the details at http://www.damiansaunders.net
Posted by: Damian Saunders 26 Feb 2009
marc hurd has said his BASE salary will be cut, which is i believe $6million. his bonus payments of £37 million pushed his TOTAL renumeration to 42 million he is only reducing his BASE salary by 20% so this is again yet another mark hurd p.r con.
as for pay rises, most at hp uk have had NO pay rises at all, for the last 8 years with some employees getting at most 2 pay increases in the last 8 years, and those rises have been very nominal 1 to 3 percent
all this pay cut will do is ensure he is able to pay himself and his co directors(conspirators) another vast bonus again next year.
hp have imposed many cost reductions to its staff, e.g increasing employeees pension contributions, removal of company car options, downgrading of staff, etc etc. H.P is not a good place to be at present, and no company can be successfull in the long term with a demoralised and utterly demotivated workforce. What happened to the HP way? which was a model for all companies to be envious of. If we had ever shared the good times of the last 8 years, we would probably buy into this , but its a greed culture at the top and no none will buy into that!.
Posted by: sarah bryan 26 Feb 2009
Dear Mister Hurd,
Don't forget we, the working force, are the motor of your HP-vehicle. Do you really think it's a good idea to decrease the salaries for already underpaid and overworked employees??
Continue with this nonsense, and hopefully the labour unions will change the letter 'd' in your last name into a 't'. Good managers can also admit when they are wrong. Well mister Hurd, you are WRONG about this. The question is, are you a good manager?
Posted by: EDS Belgium 25 Feb 2009
What on earth are they thinking? This will bring the firm to its knees.
You now have the entire UK staff reduced to only doing the minimum effort, leaving early and generally not giving a damn what happens.
This will soon be reflected in customer satisfaction and contracts will vanish.
Someone else has to take on the contracts so people will still have jobs.
Get a grip!
Posted by: Outside Observer 24 Feb 2009
HP Pay Cut
I think it is better to lose 2.5% or 5% of your pay than losing your job. Specially appreciate Mark taking a 20% cut and other Sr.Mgmt taking 10-15% cut to save all our jobs.
Posted by: Arren, 23 Feb 2009
Get real. Hurd is offering up 0.68% of his income as a gesture in an environmnet where he as, CEO, Chairman & President, is an utter Autocrat with complete control over bonus payments.
He is robbing us blind for no guarantees
Posted by: Realist 23 Feb 2009
HP's CEO Mark Hurd made $42.5 million in fiscal 2008.
Hewlett-Packard gave its boss, Mark Hurd, $25.4 million in cash last year, including a $1.45 million salary and $23.9 million in bonus money, according to compensation figures contained in the company's proxy which it filed late on Inauguration Day.
You can see his annual and total compensation, stock options etc. right here:
http://investing.businessweek.com/businessweek/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=214256&symbol=HPQ
Now honestly, people... he gets $42,514,524 of which "only" $1,450,000 is his base salary. He offers to cut 20% of his base pay. Well, that still leaves him with $41.354.524 plus his stock options. In fact, his pay-cut of 20% is really only 1%.
Furthermore, HP/EDS personnel have no job guarantee.
WHAT A RIPP OFF - SAY NO!
Posted by: DontLetThemPlayWithYourBollocks 21 Feb 2009
Hi,
I am myself an employee of HP and think it is the most shameful decision the high management of HP has taken. After high bonuses paid to the high management after the end of the financial year 2008, it is easy for them to cut their salary by 20%. But the little employee, that is already underpaid will feel it very hard, if even only 2.5% are cut of in this kind of situation, especially if the division of HP he is working for has made a reasonable profit.
This does not add to the satisfaction of the workforce, but will make loads of hard working employees think to leave their position for better opportunities.
In many cases this would be the 3rd year without any pay rise. This also means an effective decrease of the salary within this time by more than 15% (inflation rates and declining Pound-to-Euro rate included).
Regards
Posted by: Mr T. 20 Feb 2009
Im still in disbelief as to what we are being asked to swallow here. As the previous commenter has written we have already had no pay rises for two years, with no possibility of another for at least an additional year, and also had reductions in benefits imposed on us and increases in pension and healthcare costs.
It is now evident that Hurd and cronies havent a clue what to do in the current climate.
Posted by: EDSER 20 Feb 2009
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