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My first job, when I finished college in 1992, was at HP. They hesitated to offer me a job, because they said that when HP offers someone a position, they're b
by reuven 11y ago
My first job, when I finished college in 1992, was at HP.
They hesitated to offer me a job, because they said that when HP offers someone a position, they're basically offering them a job for life.
Sure, you can snicker at that comment, since almost no company would (or can, or should) make such a claim nowadays. But people told me that before I got there, in the mid-1980s, there were big problems at the company. Rather than have any layoffs, they reduced everyone's salary by 10%, and told people to only work 9 of every 10 business days. This included everyone, starting with the top managers.
I'm not sure if that was the right thing to do for the company. And I doubt many companies would do that today. And if they're talking about shedding 30k people, then HP is planning some drastic changes.
But it's sad for me to remember the HP that I worked for at the time, in which there was a strong sense of community, and of "we're all in this together" -- and to think of the people who joined when such an ethos existed, and who will be laid off now.
I'm not sure if there's a real alternative, and I'm a capitalist at heart... but it's still sad to see so many people laid off because it's now in style to break companies apart.
- seibelj 11y agoI just think it's the wrong way to look at things. It's better to cut 30,000 to save the company, than to keep everyone hired and wait for every employee to be out of work.
- reuven 11y agoMaybe. And I fully admit that given those two choices, it's better to save the company and lay of 30k people. But I do have to wonder how the company grew to be so bloated and large. Perhaps it was unfair for HP to hire them to begin with. I fully recognize that at the end of a day, an unprofitable company doesn't do anyone any good. It's just sad for me to think that the only way to make the company profitable is to lay off such a huge number of employees. I also know how big-company layoffs often work; they often don't take someone's quality of work into consideration, but rather the project or division in which they worked. Thus, I'm sure some great people will be looking for jobs, through no fault of their own.
- scottkduncan 11y agoA lot goes back to the EDS acquisition, which seemed doomed almost from the start. A poorly planned acquisition + longstanding internal issues will almost inevitably get you to this kind of outcome.
- Angostura 11y agoIt depends. If you are pretty sure that this is temporary revenue issue, with identified reasons, and know that you will need all your employees in 12 months time, it may be worth to ask for salary cuts.
- s73v3r 11y agoIs it? I mean, even the people who survive the layoffs are going to know that the company doesn't give a shit about them, and as such, they're not gonna care about the company. People who don't care about the company aren't going to work as hard.
- qzcx 11y agoActually ExxonMobile makes that claim still.