Wednesday, 17 September 2008

HP-EDS Integration to Cost 24,600 Jobs

Hewlett Packard (HP) made headlines Monday when it announced that it will be slashing some 24,600 jobs - nearly 7.5% of its combined workforce- over the next 3 years, as it starts to integrate Electronic Data Systems (EDS) into its organisation...

Hewlett Packard (HP) made headlines Monday when it announced that it will be slashing some 24,600 jobs - nearly 7.5% of its combined workforce- over the next 3 years, as it starts to integrate Electronic Data Systems (EDS) into its organisation.

In May of this year, HP revealed that it will be acquiring IT outsourcer EDS for 13.9 billion dollars. The acquisition was completed late August.

Half of the streamlining is expected to take place within the United States.

In a statement released on its website, HP said once complete, the restructuring program is expected to result in an annual cost savings of approximately 1.8 billion dollars.

Divisions that are expected to get hit include human resources, legal departments and finance, where there are traditionally overlapping duties between both companies.

The IT behemoth plans to challenge biggest rival IBM’s core service business by bringing EDS on board and said it expects Plano, Texas based EDS to add to HP’s net profit in 2010.