HP to cut nearly 1,000 UK jobs

Job losses are part of wider corporate rationalisation

HP cuts 1,000 UK jobs

HP has confirmed that nearly a thousand of its recently announced job cuts will come from the UK.

The global IT company has said 968 jobs from the UK (not including Ireland) will go, as part of its plans to cut costs and remain competitive.

A spokeswoman for HP UK revealed the number of UK-specific jobs under threat, after HP chief executive Mark Hurd announced sweeping cuts across its organisation globally in a financial statement to the press yesterday.

Hurd suggested as many as 15,000 jobs could go worldwide, almost 10 per cent of the company's workforce, which swelled to 141,000 in 2002 when the company merged with Compaq.

The European region is earmarked to lose 5,900 positions as part of the corporate rationalisation, with many sales and services roles rumoured to be prime targets.

The spokeswoman said the cuts would take place when ongoing consultations with local employee groups were complete.

The is the first major change Hurd has made since joining the company four months ago after his predecessor, Carly Fiorina, stepped down earlier this year.