HP Invent...: Hewlett Packard aims to transfer the jobs from Erskine, Renfrewshire, to the Czech Republic

November 14, 2005

Hewlett Packard aims to transfer the jobs from Erskine, Renfrewshire, to the Czech Republic

Times (Scotland) , Nov. 9, 2005
An electronics giant announced plans yesterday to make 200 contract staff redundant at one of its plants in Scotland.

Hewlett Packard aims to transfer the jobs from Erskine, Renfrewshire, to the Czech Republic, reducing its Scottish workforce by a tenth.In a statement, the company said: "We have taken this decision as part of our global supply chain strategy to drive increased value for our customers and ensure that we remain competitive in the marketplace." The company went on to say that they remained "committed to our presence in Scotland".Jim Sheridan, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, accused Hewlett Packard of "corporate greed" and called for new laws to ensure that companies carry out proper consultations.He said: "This is devastating for the local community, the workers and their families. It's just sheer corporate greed coupled with the opportunity to exploit Eastern European cheap labour."More than 2,000 people are employed on the Erskine site in manufacturing, sales and customer service.

The Herald (Scotland) / Nov. 09 2005

The decision by HP will bring further pressure on the government to tighten up its employment legislation.The jobs, which have been outsourced to Foxconn, a Hewlett-Packard partner, will move to Pardubice in the Czech Republic.Tina Green, HP's director of government and public affairs, said: "The announcement is part of HP's strategy to use partners such as Foxconn to take on the large volume manufacturing of less complex products."Working in partnership with HP, Foxconn will be able to achieve greater competitiveness through economies of scale, vertical integration of the manufacturing process, and by applying their expertise in low cost manufacturing. This strategy allows HP to focus on our core competencies of innovation and high value services."Ms Green added that the "higher-skill operation" employment base, customer support, and sales call centre positions at Erskine would be unaffected. Jim Sheridan, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, who condemned the job losses, intends to call on the government to take steps to give workers more protection from the whims of multinationals.He said: "This is just corporate greed with employees thrown on the scrapheap. The only thing that is going to stop this is improved and effective employment legislation. Again the consultation process, so called, with HP is a farce. "These decisions are made with little or no feelings for those who have lost their jobs or the wider community. This is about exploiting cheap labour costs in Eastern Europe."Stephen Boyd, assistant secretary of the STUC, said: "It is a long-standing problem that these multinationals are able to treat Scottish workers in this way. The outsourcing of low value manufacturing jobs is happening time and again, and we really have to ask where large numbers of people will find employment in the future."Last month, The Herald revealed workers at the plant were being sent home during quiet periods, but expected to finish shifts at later dates. The workers said they owed the company hundreds of hours and were being forced to give up days off to make up for the "lost" time.Hewlett Packard transferred 260 staff contracts to employment agency Manpower two years ago, and it is understood the majority of those affected by the cuts are employed by Manpower and Excel.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: Hewlett Packard cuts Scots jobs

Hewlett Packard has cut the workforce by about a tenth
Electronics firm Hewlett Packard has announced plans to shed 200 manufacturing jobs in Erskine.
The company said the jobs would be moved to the Czech Republic and would mean about a 10% reduction in the workforce in Scotland

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4419394.stm; 3:07 AM, November 15, 2005
Anonymous said...: HP to post strong quarter, no write-off
Tuesday November 15, 7:52 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Cost cuts and steady growth in its printer, server and personal computer businesses will drive a rise in Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ - News) quarterly profit when the company reports on Thursday, analysts said.
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And with results improving, the No. 2 computer will likely abandon any thoughts of writing down billions of dollars of goodwill, an accounting move that would admit failure in the 2002 acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp. but also give a fresh start to new Chief Executive Mark Hurd.

"HP is going to look much better coming out of this quarter than Dell and Lexmark," said Brent Bracelin, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities. Dell Inc. (NasdaqNM:DELL - News), the No. 1 PC maker, and printer maker Lexmark International Inc. (NYSE:LXK - News) both had disappointing quarters, he said.

Accounting rules require companies annually to test whether goodwill -- an estimation of intangible assets such as the value of a brand name or high employee morale and undefined merger-related benefits -- has been impaired.

Since shortly after the arrival of Hurd on April 1, analysts and investors have speculated that HP might choose to write off the goodwill related to the Compaq deal.

That would be a symbolic admission that the purchase did not yield the value that had been promised and mark a clear end to the era of previous CEO Carly Fiorina.

But HP has been steadily improving its results, and its long-struggling PC business, for one, had already started to turn the corner even before Hurd took the helm. HP last quarter posted results that topped analyst expectations and issued a forecast for the current quarter that was ahead of then-average Wall Street forecasts.

"When earnings are improving, a company is less likely to take a write-off," said Cindy Shaw, an analyst at Moors & Cabot, adding that she had speculated HP might take the Compaq write-down when it last reported results in August.

More to the point, if HP were to write down the Compaq goodwill when it reports on Thursday, it could raise red flags for investors, who are looking for predictable and sustained revenue and profit growth from HP.

"If they do write it off, that might imply they are negative about future profitability," Shaw said. "To write it off would be contradictory."

Analysts on average expect HP's per-share profit before items in the fourth quarter to rise 12 percent to 46 cents from 41 cents, in the year-ago period, and revenue is forecast to rise 6.4 percent to $22.8 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

In each of the first three quarters of its fiscal year 2005, HP has topped the average per-share Wall Street profit estimate. Revenue eclipsed the consensus estimate in two of the three.

So far this year, HP shares are the best-forming in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and are up 34 percent as the Dow Jones has been flat.

Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein, estimates that revenue in HP's lucrative printing business -- which still accounts for more than 60 percent of HP's operating profit -- will rise 6 percent in the quarter from a year ago.

Sales in HP's storage and server business will rise 6.2 percent, the analyst estimated, and revenue at HP's PC business, where profitability has been steadily improving, should rise by 8 percent.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/051115/hewlettpackard_outlook.html?.v=1; 2:25 AM, November 16, 2005
Anonymous said...: Événement

Fiorina: «Accepter la prise de

L'ancienne PDG d'Hewlett-Packard était de passage mardi soir à Bruxelles. Seule l'innovation est source de croissance, dit-elle.

http://www.lalibre.be/article.phtml?id=3&subid=85&art_id=251422; 1:35 AM, November 17, 2005
Anonymous said...: HP to help local software developers
Credit: Saint Doe Tamakloe (CITI NEWS)

Thursday, 17 November 2005

Local software companies in the country are set to benefit immensely from multinational players in the ICT industry as their competence is attracting these international players to the Ghanaian market.

After expressing its interest in setting up a subsidiary in Ghana, HP Nigeria is looking at the potential in Ghana’s software industry as a plus to its decision to start operations in the country. Managing Director of HP Nigeria, Maduka Emelife tells CITI BUSINESS that local competence as exist in Ghana, appeals to them and added that HP intends to bring its systems for local software developers to undertake their applications as well as push their works with the HP brand.

HP has global experience in helping in the growth of local competencies most notably in South East Asia and has the history of bringing a lot of best practice models usually unavailable in local markets. Mr. Emelife reiterated this point to CITI BUSINESS and noted that as local software companies take up the opportunity to work with HP, there is a lot of knowledge transfer on latest trends and how to meet up with current international standards.

http://www.ghananewstoday.com/portal/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2373; 1:38 AM, November 17, 2005
Anonymous said...: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/finance/external/forbes/SIG=1171gpfac/*http://www.forbes.com/business/video/?video_url=http://www.forbes.com/video/fvn/tech/ck_hp111605_ab&id=ck_hp111605_ab&title=Video%3A+Hewlett-Packard+Packs+Punch&partner=yahootix

Video: Hewlett-Packard Packs Punch
at Forbes.com (Thu 6:00am); 5:19 AM, November 17, 2005
Anonymous said...: How hot is HP?

http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/16/markets/hp_preview/index.htm; 7:25 AM, November 17, 2005

I leave you now HP

They say the "lights will still go on at HP" without me here. I wonder who will miss the love I have given this company, I wonder who will miss how much I cared about The HP Way. I often chose to come in early, work through lunch and stay late. I thought what I was doing was so important. Especially when it was for customers or when it was something so new, What we were doing would change the world. But the times I was the most selfless, was for my co-workers who needed me. Maybe it was to review a document, give feedback, change the code, whatever... This is what I will miss most, knowing that I was important to my co-workers. I will miss the lifelong friends I have made We had so many days of meaningful work together. We made a difference and we knew it. We understood the power of a team. I will miss that where ever I went in the world, I always found great HP people. People who cared as much as I did. People who loved our HP culture enough to keep it precious. These are the great HP people who shared in success And when times were tough were the first to say, "We'll get through it together". I will miss the picnics and the beer busts. But mostly I will miss the managers who believed in me, who challenged me, who told me that I was a leader and important to the business. I will miss the profit sharing checks. Not for the money but because I knew I was a part of something so much greater than myself. I will always remember the handshake and the "Thank you" of the general manager. Those were some of my favorite times. I will miss the laughter and excitement of creating new businesses and improving processes. I will miss the serious times when customers' needs were on the line. We were all engaged for one purpose. It was our finest hour. I will miss saying I helped create a great HP product. And now will relish in how it changed the world. I wouldn't have missed that for anything. How proud I am to have been an HP employee. I would have worked for free for you HP. I loved you that much. You should know that I cried when Bill and Dave died. I had finally figured out what values really mean to a company's culture. My only regret is I didn't have a chance to say thank you. I'll take that learning with me as a final gift of all the years, of the great company Bill & Dave built. I leave you now HP.