HP to Cut 27,000 Jobs as Part of Restructuring Program

Hewlett-Packard will trim 27,000 employees as part of its long-term restructuring plan, the company said when it announced quarterly financial results.

The company will shed about 8 percent of its workforce through a combination of layoffs and retirement offers that started last Oct. 31 and will continue through the end of its 2014 fiscal year, HP said. Employee reduction plans vary by country.

The restructuring program is expected to save US$3 billion to $3.5 billion through fiscal year 2014, and a majority of those savings will be reinvested in the company, HP said in a statement.

The job cuts are "difficult" but they also are "necessary to improve execution and to fund long-term health" of HP, CEO Meg Whitman said in a statement.

HP also announced that its net income for the second quarter, which ended April 30, was $1.6 billion, a drop of 31 percent over the same quarter a year ago. It reported revenue of $30.7 billion, down 3 percent.

Excluding one-time charges, the company's earnings per share was $0.98, which topped the consensus estimate of $0.91 from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

The company also forecast third quarter earnings of $0.94 to $0.97, below previous expectations of $1.02 per share, but it expects that its full-year earnings will be $4.05 to $4.10, rather than $4.03 that analysts had forecast.