HP to Lay off 27,000 Jobs

Hewlett-Packard said it will cut 27,000 jobs, or 8% of its workforce, to save the company $3 bn to $3.5 bn per year. The announcement came after the company reported a 31% decline in net earnings in second quarter profit to $1.6 bn and a 3% drop in revenue to $30.7 bn or second quarter ended April 30, 2012, citing restructuring and cost cutting reasons.

"As part of the restructuring, HP expects approximately 27,000 employees to exit the company, or 8% of its workforce as of October 31, 2011, by the end of fiscal year 2014," the company said.

The tech giant expects to save almost $3.5 bn annually from the announcement and other austerity measures. The staff shedding would be largely through early retirement offers and attrition.

The move will be carried out in the next 2 years, experts say that the cut is an effect of tough competition that varied range of smartphones and other devices are giving to the computer-maker as the company. However the company plans to use the savings to boost investment in innovation in 3 areas of strategic focuscloud computing, big data, and security.