HP's Huge Salary Cuts Forcing Out Old EDS Employees

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/tech/HPs-Huge-Salary-Cuts-Forcing-Out-Old-EDS-Employees-52485672.html

by veteran • 17 years ago

23 9 17 years ago

nbcbayarea.com

maxharris• 17 years ago

Well, these EDS old-timers can always look elsewhere for more pay. They're not slaves, you know?

My guess is that they're lucky to have their jobs at all, given current economic circumstances.

flatline• 17 years ago

After working there for 12-20 years they may have more invested in the company than just punching a time clock each day. 20 years is actually a pretty full career. So, are EDS employees being treated as second class citizens due to being outsiders who were later acquired, or are the cuts equal across the board or proportional to performance?

gaius2• 17 years ago

Gotta wonder what HP's thinking here. Laying people off is one thing, but you can do it cleanly. Put together a decent severance package, ask for volunteers, it's all over and you can draw a line under it (until next time, anyway, but even so: if people know they'll be looked after, the organization copes). I don't see EDS recovering from this.

zandorg• 17 years ago

This is an ideal time for me to post my recent blog post...

"The Grad from HP"

I remember, in my first year at University, I went to a talk in the business school, where a guy, a graduate from this University who was giving a talk to us, told us he had got a job (management I think) with HP after graduating. All well and good, until...

He pointed to a chart, and said HP has profits of 60 billion dollars.

Profits? Shouldn't that be revenues? Is this guy barely competent?

It was then that I realised why the world of technology is so fucked up - it's suit guys like this guy, who don't know a damn thing!

daniel-cussen• 17 years ago

It makes more sense to slash salaries than to lay people off. Sure it blows, but if you can't find a job anywhere else, it's because the economy thinks you are no longer worth what you were paid.

joez• 17 years ago

See Netflix Culture: http://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664

It's about doing the right thing. But this article is not about slashing salaries instead of laying people off. It's about the bush league moves of forcing people out through salary reductions than lay offs.

Another reason is a more technical one, mass lay offs are accounted for differently than slashing salaries. You can book the severance and associated costs with mass terminations as "restructuring" which hits your P&L as a below the (profit) line cost.

icefox• 17 years ago

So the type of people who will jump ship first are the really good ones who can easily get jobs elsewhere leaving behind those who couldn't find replacement jobs. Sounds like a sure fire win plan.

mrbgty• 17 years ago

The execs at HP think that you should run a technology company like you would a WalMart.

They'll get some short term profits with their cost cutting but the revenue is dropping with it.

gaius2• 17 years ago

It's worth remembering that the part of HP that everyone respected was spun off and is now called Agilent. The new HP wants to be an IT services company. Which makes this all the more bizarre.

HP's Huge Salary Cuts Forcing Out Old EDS Employees

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