HP CEO assures no job cuts in India

Hewlett-Packard (HP)'s President and CEO, Meg Whitman has confirmed that no job cuts will happen in India during the company's global restructuring, reports The Economic Times. Whitman added that HP may actually increase the workforce in India over time.

Whitman was recently on a three-day visit to the country. In an interview with the Economic Times, she said, "We are not reducing our workforce in India. We have announced a global workforce reduction, but India will stay largely intact, because we not only have all our business units here, but also our R&D and back office. We are focused on keeping our workforce here, and I think over time, probably increase the workforce".

No job cuts in HP India

In May this year, Whitman announced plans to lay off around 27,000 employees or about 8 percent of its workforce over a period of a couple of years, to trigger growth, and in the process, save up to $3.5 billion annually. After this declaration, HP's shares soared by 11 percent. The company said the layoffs would be primarily by way of early retirement, and would generate annual savings of $3 billion to $3.5 billion, by the end of fiscal year 2014, the expected date of completion of the downsizing. "Layoffs adversely impact people's lives, but in this case, they are absolutely critical to the long-term health of the company," Whitman said. According to figures by industry experts, more than 30,000 personnel out of HP's 349,600 global workforce operate out of India. 

HP, the world's topmost personal computer maker, faced a 31 percent decline in second-quarter profit this year, and a 3 percent decline in revenue, compared with a year ago. However, the results were better than Wall Street expectations.

HP recently launched their new range of Ultrabooks and Sleekbooks in India, starting at a price of Rs. 41,990. The company first announced these notebooks back in May this year for the U.S market, and they landed on Indian shores in June. The HP Envy Ultrabook range is available at a starting price of Rs. 57,990, while the Envy Sleekbook range starts at Rs. 41,990. 

As thin as 19.8mm (0.78 inches), and starting from 1.75kg, the new HP Envy notebooks feature a soft-touch, slip-resistant base in black or red, making them easy to grab and go. The Envy 4 is available in a diagonal display size of 14-inch, and the Envy 6 in 15.6-inch. The notebooks are powered by the latest, third-generation Intel Core processors, and offer up to eight and nine hours of battery life, respectively. The Ultrabook systems include an mSATA solid state drive (SSD) along with Intel Rapid Start, Intel Identity Protection Technology, Intel Smart Response, and Intel Smart Connect technologies.