Laptop and printer maker HP Inc. stated on Tuesday that it plans to put off 4,000 to six,000 workers over the subsequent three years—making it the most recent tech firm to announce job cuts or hiring freezes.
HP Inc.’s layoffs, which signify practically 10% of its present workforce, are a part of a broader cost-cutting plan that comes amid declining gross sales and a souring financial system. On Tuesday, the corporate stated fourth quarter income had dropped 11.2% from the identical interval a 12 months earlier, to $14.8 billion.
The corporate partly blamed weak desktop pc gross sales, an issue impacting firms throughout the PC trade in latest months. Fourth-quarter gross sales in HP Inc.’s division that features computer systems dropped 13% year-over-year to $10.3 billion, pushed largely by a 25% decline in shopper income.
In a press release, HP Inc. CEO Enrique Lores described it as a “unstable macro-environment” and cited “softening demand” for his firm’s merchandise during the last six months.
HP Inc.’s layoffs coincide with a wider retrenchment by the tech sector as a result of rising recession fears introduced on by excessive inflation and excessive rates of interest. Final week, Amazon introduced 260 layoffs and hinted that there’d be extra subsequent 12 months, saying the financial system was in a “difficult spot”. Some studies say Amazon plans to put off as much as 10,000 workers.
Earlier this month, Fb guardian Meta stated it could lower 11,000 workers. In the meantime, Twitter, after being acquired in October by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, laid off greater than half of its workforce. And final month, Microsoft introduced layoffs throughout a number of divisions.
HP’s newest layoffs come greater than three years after earlier job cuts in 2019 of seven,000 to 9,000 workers.
With out immediately addressing the most recent layoffs, Lores instructed the Wall Avenue Journal that he’s getting ready for a downturn that might final at the least into 2024, saying “it’s prudent to not assume that the market will flip throughout 2023.”
The layoffs, plus a discount within the firm’s actual property footprint, are anticipated to avoid wasting the corporate $1.4 billion in annualized spending by the top of 2025’s fiscal 12 months. It expects the restructuring to value round $1 billion.
A spokesperson for HP Inc. instructed Fortune that the layoffs are “the hardest selections, as a result of they influence colleagues we care deeply about. We’re dedicated to treating folks with care and respect—together with monetary and profession companies help to assist them discover their subsequent alternative.”
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