Support roles suffer as HP axe falls

HP last week confirmed that just under a thousand UK jobs will be axed as part of a restructuring plan, which will see the loss of some 5,900 jobs across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. But experts said that new chief executive Mark Hurd needs to provide more details about long-term strategy.

HP hinted that the cuts would be likely to focus on human resources, IT and finance departments. A spokeswoman said that the precise details had not been made public because HP is still in discussion with workers’ groups.

However, she added that statements made when Hurd originally announced restructuring measures in July indicated that the cuts would focus on support functions.

HP’s back-office restructuring will have little impact on customers, according to chairman of the HP User Group, John Owen. But he added that the firm needs to work harder to develop sustained customer relationships.

“One of the most common issues with our members is that they want a route into HP and they want to be heard,” he said.

Tim Jennings of analyst firm Butler Group argued that more details about HP’s long-term plans are required. “Enterprise CIOs like to know where their major providers are heading,” he said. “It is surprising how little Hurd has said about HP’s long-term vision.”

Separately, reports in Germany claimed up to 10,000 jobs could be axed at engineering giant Siemens, with loss-making IT services arm Siemens Business Services expected to see 1,300 staff cut. A company spokesman confirmed discussions are taking place, but refused to comment on the scale of any changes.