Hewlett Packard to slash over 6,400 jobs

New York, May 20 (PTI) Technology major Hewlett-Packard,
which has posted a steep decline in second quarter profits,
will be cutting more than 6,400 jobs or about two per cent of
its global workforce in the coming months.

The company, which has a strong presence in India, has
reported a 17 per cent fall in profits at USD 1.7 billion for
the three months ended April 30, 2009.

In a conference call to discuss the second quarter
performance on Tuesday, the firm said it would eliminate about
"two per cent of the HP workforce, as we further streamline
and simplify our organisation and our supply chains".

"These actions will be implemented over the next 12
months after consultation with employee representatives, where
required," HP said.

According to the company website, it has about 3,21,000
employees worldwide and a reduction of two per cent would
amount to more than 6,400 job losses.

HP's profits for the second quarter tumbled to USD 1.7
billion from USD 2.1 billion in the year-ago period, it said
in a separate statement Tuesday.

The entity's revenues for the latest quarter dropped
three per cent to USD 27.4 billion. In the comparable period,
the same stood at USD 1.7 billion. MORE PTI SP RAM
HMK
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