HP adds 2,000 to layoff list

Computerworld - Hewlett-Packard's layoff just got a little bigger.

The company, in a U.S. Security and Exchange filing, said it will eliminate 29,000 positions, an increase of 2,000.

In May, HP announced plans to cut 27,000 employees by 2014, or about 8% of its global workforce of 350,000.

The company expects to cut about 12,000 employees by the end of its fiscal year, Oct. 31, thanks to a better than expected acceptance rate of its early retirement offering.

HP has never detailed how many of the layoffs will be in the U.S. But last month, HP CEO Meg Whitman told the India-based Economic Times that operations there will remain largely intact.

HP last month took an $8 billion charge against its services division.

In its SEC filing, the company said it is "reducing our cost structure and realigning our workforce to create investment capacity, support growth initiatives and innovation, and facilitate more effective operations."

Major changes were announced beginning last March, when the firm said it was consolidating its personal computer and printing businesses.

Patrick Thibodeau covers cloud computing and enterprise applications, outsourcing, government IT policies, data centers and IT workforce issues for Computerworld. Follow Patrick on Twitter at  @DCgov or subscribe to Patrick's RSS feed . His e-mail address is pthibodeau@computerworld.com.

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