27 Feb 2009
HP staff around the world are protesting against chief executive Mark Hurd’s plan to cut their pay following a decline in the firm’s profit.
Computing reported last week that the pay decrease could affect up to 300,000 staff, with higher cuts for senior management.
But many HP employees have since contacted Computing through our web site to complain about their treatment.
“Some people within HP UK have had no pay rises for nine or 10 years. I know because I am one of them,” said an HP worker.
“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, which is a certainty.”
One Belgian employee of recently acquired subsidiary EDS said Hurd should admit he has made a mistake in the face of such a backlash.
“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 of already underpaid and overworked employees?” he said.
Several HP workers pointed out that senior executives’ claims to be taking a higher pay cut are disingenuous when they are paid such large bonuses.
“Mark Hurd made $42.5m in fiscal 2008. HP gave him $25.4m in cash last year, including a $1.45m salary and $23.9m bonus money, according to compensation figures contained in the company's proxy,” said one employee.
“He gets $42,514,524, of which ‘only’ $1.45m is his base salary. He offers to cut 20 per cent of his base pay. Well, that still leaves him with $41,354,524 plus his stock options. In fact, his pay cut of 20 per cent is really only one per cent.”
A worker signing himself “Mr T” added: “This is the most shameful decision the high management of HP has taken.”
And another warned of the potential effect on HP’s business in the UK. “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,” he said.
“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.”
The pay cuts were also announced after employees of HP and EDS demonstrated outside company offices across Europe last month 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.
Hurd got fired for cheating on expenses and his wife. My guess would be that if an audit was done of senior EDS expenses and lifestyles, many would follow him. Both EDS and HP have awful reputations for treating employees badly, screwing over customers and management greed.
Posted by: Jim 19 Dec 2010
All about protecting his own interest. Even without pay for a year to Hurd. He won't DIE but a worker will. Worker bonus was just a few cents compare to Hurd bonus Millions.
So he decide to do base salary cut instead of bonus cut!! All staff cuts will help him secure this another year of HUGE bonus.
Posted by: Just a word GREED 28 Apr 2009
Hey anyone paying attention. The judge ordered EDS to pay the employees. So HP buys us, cuts our pay and is using that money to cover the lawsuit. It is plain and simple. They do not care what the judge said. They are taking our pay so they can pay us our settlement. Wonder how the judge who ruled would feel about this. He ordered them to pay and they told him where to go Huh? I can not believe that the lawyers for this lawsuit are letting this go down. Oh that's right they got their money so they don't care. I love how a big company can tell the courts up yours. You tell us to pay and we say sure as soon as we dock our employees. So we can take their money to pay them the money they are owed. Does anybody get that this is what is going down. I can not believe no action is being taken by lawyers. We are not suppose to pay teh fine. EDS IS SUPPOSE TO PAY, NOT US!!!!
Posted by: MADEDSR 10 Apr 2009
Just announced today, all EDS only US/Puerto Rico employees will get a 10% pay cut in April to help the company meet its numbers. EDS! The division that was +2% last quarter, the division that has suffered > 80% of the 25,000 lay-offs. While printers and computers that are down 20% last quarter escape relatively unscathed! Uh, who does he think will be buying those printers/PCs? Businesses? Not with all the excess inventory from layoffs. Laid-off people? People who've seen their taxes increase and their wages decrease? Maybe "best"-shore resources will. It's utter madness and think Hurd should be strung up. I think he's a crook, plain and simple, just screwing over the USA so he can get his!
Posted by: Soon to be ex-EDSer..... Thank Goodness! 14 Mar 2009
As an EDS employee, I just found out that in addition to the 5% announced in February, we are getting an addition 10% cut for the month of April. I have to carry 15% for a month and I haven't gotten an increase in 2 years! I'd suffer it gladly if Hurd and Co. would take a real 5% like everyone else.
Posted by: VIC=20 13 Mar 2009
I find this very interesting as it shows how EDS has made another bad decision.. At least with Dick Brown you knew what to expect..
EDS went into this venture with HP and now HP is losing sales and EDS takes the hit.. Wow..
Heck EDS made a profit before being taken over and now the employees will suffer. As current employee on a great contract the customers will be the ones to lose.. The morale at EDS is low with the 20000 job cuts and then the 5% cut now 10% and most of the workers have not seen a raise in the last 5 Years.
Time to leave and most likely everyone will be sick a lot more.. So they cut my pay 15% I'm out sick for 15%.of the time...
Posted by: Dick 13 Mar 2009
I work for that company in New Zealand, and I will definitely not be be accepting my current employers' generous offer of a reduction in my pay. The spin put out by HP to their staff is incredibly divisive. I personally received 32 rather wordy emails telling me how much turnover and profit HP had achieved last year, then one embarrased phonecall from my manager advising that we really hadn't done well enough to get a bonus. I was told that the coming annual payrise would compensate. I then received the paltry 0.5% insult that was my payrise, not enough to buy an extra pint of beer or a lotto ticket each week.
Posted by: HPKiwi 10 Mar 2009
The real tragedy here is the negativity and pessimism dragging down the spirit of so many hard working people. I spend so many hours working with these great people I just want to feel like I am part of something at HP!
I watched an old movie the other night called Executive Suite. I wish it could be screened for all the Executives at HP. When a business ceases to be about growing by creating useful, innovative and exciting products that satisfy public demand and instead focuses solely on short term financial gain it has lost its way.
Maybe balance is the answer. Fiscal responsibility is important but should executives be able to hit all their targets through "operational efficiencies" alone (cutting jobs, outsourcing jobs, reducing benefits, freezing pay, reducing bonuses, closing buildings and setting unreasonable internal targets)? Or should a significant portion of executive pay focus on truly growing the business? Perhaps there is a reason why my daughter has an iPOD, my wife an iPhone and all my neighbours Blackberries. Yes, I have been able to convince my circle of friends and relatives to own HP printers, laptops and PC's but that is old news!
Finally there is the question of Ethics. The HP Executive is draconian in their commitment to have every employee be refreshed in a business ethics course. I have studied ethics as an engineer and read some of the latest business theories on the subject. I remember reading a theory that talked about every employee taking a financial hit in hard times for the benefit of the business... but it also said those same employees would be the beneficiaries of financial gain in the best times. We all know that these same HP employees being asked to take a significant hit in personal income did not share in the bounty of HP's success over the past five years regardless of performance. That is not ethical.
Posted by: Paul 05 Mar 2009
All employees of HP as well as other companies should write a letter to the President about the greed of our EC and CEO, if enough noise is made even though this is a private sector Wall street will take notice the SEC will investigate the Board of director's and the obvious corruption of you pat my paws and I will pat yours and cease this corruption in corporate America. This is the only way we will take back America from the corrupt brass at HP and all companies like it here in the US.
The CEOs are trying to turn the US into a third world country; they are selling America out for greed. The CEOs are out sourcing all of the core jobs that will keep this nation healthy to third world countries, they feel it will not affect them because they are financially set, and place this nation into slavery by working for extremely low wages and saying be grateful you have a job.
Mark Hurd and all like him wear the evilness and ugliness of slavery, with no respect or care for their fellow human being. What Mark and those like him will never be happy until they are destroying others and this nation under the premise that we need to do this to place the company in a better marketing position.
Write the president, and starting making enough noise to launch an investigation. Mark slipped by the spy scandal when he was guilty as hell and had women to take the fall because she was expendable, how much did you pay Mark? Now add extortion to your list. What goes around comes around, a thief and a liar can only escape the claws of justice for a short period.
Take a stand all employees and write our President, there is power in the pen, this is extortion of America and the Boards of directors are strongly involved in this company as well as other companies like it. If something is not done soon this will be the death of America's economic viability, security and strength. These people are killing our nation with the entire out sourcing and corporate corruption. Don't get angry, there is power in the pen; use your power positively and to where it will count. Let get rid of corrupt CEOs because there is no further a place for them here in the United States.
Posted by: Sensible Solution 02 Mar 2009
On a recent con-call my sister said that an employee called in complaining about a proposed bill by the government to increase the ability of labour unions to recreate. He was against it. Surprisingly the executive hosting the call, chimed in with his opposition to the bill. I understand the executive's opposition to such a bill, but be a bit more subtle.
Posted by: AJ 01 Mar 2009
I have worked my guts out for EDS/HP and told the company pays for performance, my pay has slowly gone from extremely under paid to underpaid over 10 years hoping to catch up to other people but no chance of that. Pay for performance is an outright Lie, more work same pay and now told more and more work less pay. I am an great worker but I plan to resign and work for a company that wants my skills and willing to pay for it I call to other employees resign and tell Mark Hurd to get stuffed. This reminds me of the french revolution or Metropolis where the rich pigs life the high life at the expense of the working class
Posted by: Soon to be EDS HP EX employee 01 Mar 2009
There is fury amongst EDS workers, who perceive the HP takeover as being catastrophic. Hurd's slash and burn policies seem hell-bent on running us into the ground. We are comfortably in profit and yet have been forced to get rid of experienced staff, making it very difficult to meet our targets or to take on new projects. Hurd's remuneration rockets by some 68% last year and yet we have to suffer wage cuts. There is no sane logic at work here. Only Hurd's greed.
Posted by: Angry as hell 01 Mar 2009
You cannot be working for the same HP that I do.You must be at the sauce department, drinking it, if you believe Mark Hurd will not make redundancies because of a 5% pay decrease.
Yes I have had no pay rise for 9-10 years but K Rating for last 4 years, do you know what K rating is? K is Key performer. Top Grade ! and yes I am good at what I do.
No pay rises because Mark Hurd wants keep "costs fixed"
i.e. wages the same year on year. Discussing this with my long service colleague we have agreed that we will refusing the cut. Hopefully we will be given the opportunity to explain the reasons why.
Posted by: K Rated Performer 01 Mar 2009
I do not know who in HP it is that is writing about how this move is such a bad thing because in my discussions with colleagues it is unilaterally seen as a positive and encouraging approach. We all agree that we'd rather lose 5% (2.5% after tax in reality) rather than lose our jobs. Laying people off puts people out of work but it also leaves the people that remain over-worked, stressed and in a poor position to compete. This gives HP the resources and manpower to win every bit of business that is there to be won. If people complain that they have not had a pay rise for 9 years then take the hint! You really can't be that good!
Posted by: GB 27 Feb 2009
I am a US transitioned EDS employee and am very disappointed in our new CEO and Senior Managerment. Not only are they cutting our pay. They froze our pensions in Dec '08. Have already stopped reimbursing our telecommuting expenses, the price of our insurance went up last year, which means we pay more for our insurance premiums and we pay more out of pocket expenses, Our Tuition Reimbursement program is now on hold. They reduced the match for our 401K down to 4% and froze the discounted employee stock purchase program. And, to top it all off I haven't had a raise in 2 years despite the fact that I have worked hard, exceeded expectations, and have exceptional performance reviews. Something is terribly wrong with this picture. When do we say enough is enough! What's next! Once they start cutting, it seems like it continues. They keep taking and taking but yet they expect us to continue to give 110% and pick up the slack for those employees laid-off. What are they thinking? Moral is low and I doubt anyone is going to want to work harder. It is very frustrating! I already know several employees that found other jobs despite a bad economy and have left on their own. This trend may continue so will it really put HP any further ahead. Why didn't Mark Hurd cut the bonuses first?
Posted by: US 27 Feb 2009
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