HP confirms UK job cut rumours

HP is to offshore its Scottish manufacturing plant to the Czech Republic

HP has confirmed rumours that it plans to axe thousands of jobs, after protests by UK trade union Unite.

The company has submitted a proposal to its European Works Council to cut over 5,700 staff in EMEA. HP has around 80,000 employees in the region.

HP is also set to offshore its enterprise, storage and server production plants in Scotland and Germany to a partner in the Czech Republic by 2010.

Although HP will not comment on exactly how many UK workers will be affected, Unite puts the figure at around 850.

Staff were informed of the news today, and a report from Unite was released shortly afterwards informing the public of the cuts. Unite has condemned HP's decision to move manufacturing jobs offshore, pointing to HP's profit of £1.1bn in the most recent quarter.

Unite has also called on the UK government and Scottish Parliament to increase investment in the UK's manufacturing sector.

"Westminster offers no meaningful investment, and Holyrood does not even recognise manufacturing as a key plank of its economic plan," said Unite Scottish regional secretary John Quigley.

"When over £900bn of public funds can be poured into bailing out the banks, it is utterly unacceptable that help cannot be directed into a sector that is fundamental to nurturing our economic revival."

Downing Street responded by listing ways in which it is helping manufacturers through the global downturn, such as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee that supports £1.3bn of lending to small businesses, the HMRC Business Payment Support Service that allows companies to defer paying tax, and the Manufacturing Advisory Service that offers advice on cost savings.

"We know how tough it is for manufacturers. Our manufacturing is bearing the brunt of the global downturn because it is deeply integrated into global supply chains, and supplies global markets," said a spokesman for the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Meanwhile, HP's offshore move was questioned today by the Scottish Parliament. The plant, based in Erkskine, employs 1,300 people, more than half of whom are likely to lose their jobs.

"This is a company which has made a profit of some £5.2bn in 2008 due in part to the hard work of the men and women in my constituency in Erskine," said Labour MSP Trish Godman, according to an Associated Press report.

HP recently announced plans to cut its global workforce of over 320,000 by two per cent, in addition to previously imposing a five per cent pay cut across all operations.