US technology giant Hewlett-Packard has said that it will cut 24,600 jobs worldwide over the next three years as part of its integration with computer services firm Electronic Data Systems.
The company employs 4,000 in Ireland in locations in Leixlip, Dublin, Galway and Belfast. A spokesperson for the company here said HP Ireland has no knowledge of how many, if any jobs will go in Ireland as a result of the global rationalisation. No numbers had been set for any country, she added.
World leading computer maker HP bought Texas-based business services outsourcing titan EDS in August as part of a $13.9 billion deal that aimed to create a global powerhouse in computer services to compete against IBM.
The workforce reduction aims to 'streamline the combined company's services businesses,' and once complete is expected to 'result in annual cost savings of approximately $1.8 billion,' HP said in a statement.
It said the job cuts are expected to allow the tech firm to restructure the EDS business group to streamline costs, invest in growth and drive shareholder value. HP says merging resources with EDS is part of an ongoing evolution from a computer hardware company to a firm that combines hardware, software and services.
'HP has a strong track record of making acquisitions and integrating them to capture leading market positions,' said CEO Mark Hurd. 'HP now has the broadest technology capabilities in the market to meet customer needs today and in the future,' he added.
About 7.5% of the combined workforce of 320,000 employees will be affected, with about half of the cuts taking place in the US, HP said. Layoffs will be weighed toward EDS, which reported having 142,000 employees as of August.
HP said it is eliminating 'redundant' positions in departments such as accounting, human resources, and legal, and plans to actually hire about 12,000 engineers in the coming three years.
HP has annual revenues of more than $38 billion dollars, and as of August reported having 178,000 employees. It operates in more than 80 countries, including Ireland.
Northern California-based HP is the world's largest IT company, with massive data centers and experience in business computing hardware that analysts said would mesh well with the expertise EDS has in outsourcing technical services for companies.
The acquisition more than doubles HP's outsourcing services business, which will be aggressively marketed particularly in Europe and the Americas, company officials have said.
EDS was founded by Ross Perot, who became a billionaire and US presidential candidate, by paying an incorporation fee of $1,000 and buying unused computer time at an insurance company to process data for other firms, according to a company history.
