HP plans salary cuts

HP executives will see their salaries cut by 10 per cent

After revealing a 13 per cent profit loss, HP has announced that it plans to cut employee salaries.

In a company email obtained by news site All Things Digital, chief executive Mark Hurd told employees that the move was being made in an effort to avoid another round of layoffs. The company announced last Autumn that 25,000 jobs would be lost as it integrates recently-acquired EDS.

"When I look at HP, I don’t see a structural problem of that magnitude," Hurd wrote.

"There are pockets where restructuring needs to happen, and areas where actions will be taken as part of our ongoing workforce optimisation process. But at a company-wide level, I don’t believe a major workforce reduction is the best thing for HP at this time."

Under the new plan, Hurd will cut his own salary by 20 per cent, while executive council members will get a 15 per cent cut. Executives will see their salaries drop by 10 per cent, while lower-level employees will receive cuts of five and two and a half per cent.

Hurd's announcement comes in the wake of a rough economic quarter for HP. On Wednesday, the company revealed a drop in profits of more than 13 per cent, mainly in the company's personal systems, imaging and printing, and enterprise server and storage groups.

The HP chief hopes that the strategy, when combined with earlier moves, will help the company get through the rough economic period.

"People always asked, 'Why are we so focused on getting costs out in good times?' Now we see why that work was so important," Hurd told employees.

"We’ve been able to bank some of those savings, and we’re making a withdrawal, which along with the actions we’re taking today, I hope, will get us through this recession."