Recently, HP announced that it will lay off 4,000 to 6,000 employees to deal with the situation where its fiscal year profit did not meet analysts' expectations. HP CEO Enrique Lores said in an interview that this layoff plan will continue until the 2028 fiscal year, and it is expected to save about $1 billion in expenses each year. To achieve this goal, HP will rely more on artificial intelligence (AI) tools to improve efficiency in areas such as product development, customer support, sales, and production.
Lores emphasized that implementing "cost reduction and efficiency improvement" measures is a necessary step to ensure the company remains competitive. The layoff plan will result in approximately $650 million in restructuring costs, with about $250 million expected to occur within the 2026 fiscal year. According to the latest data, as of October 2024, HP had approximately 58,000 employees.
Looking back three years ago, HP had previously launched a similar layoff plan, which also aimed to cut 4,000 to 6,000 positions. Ultimately, this plan saved the company about $2.2 billion in costs. Lores pointed out that HP will adopt a more cautious strategy in the second half of the year, including increasing memory suppliers, reducing unnecessary memory configurations, and raising prices when necessary.
In the fourth quarter of the 2024 fiscal year, HP's sales increased by 4.2%, reaching $1.46 billion, which performed better than analysts had expected. In the PC division, revenue grew by 8% due to customers upgrading to the Windows 11 system and demand for AI PCs. However, HP's printer business saw a 4% decline in sales, dropping to $4.27 billion, which met market expectations.
HP's layoffs and cost control plan show the measures taken by the technology industry in response to market challenges, and the introduction of AI will become an important driver for the company's future development.
Key Points:
- 💼 HP plans to lay off 4,000 to 6,000 people in the future to save $1 billion in costs annually.
- 🤖 In the future, HP will increase the use of artificial intelligence tools to improve efficiency in product development and customer support.
- 📊 HP's sales increased by 4.2% in the latest fiscal quarter, but the printer business saw a sales decline.
