Hewlett Packard to cut 480 Warrington jobs says union

TECHNOLOGY giant Hewlett Packard is planning to axe more than 1,100 jobs, including more than 480 in Warrington, the Unite union claims.

The union said HP will axe 1,124 posts in total from its operations in Bracknell, Sheffield and Warrington. The cuts will be implemented in the first quarter of 2014.

Unite national officer Ian Tonks said: “For the last five years HP has been addicted to a culture of job cuts in the UK to such an extent that its highly skilled workforce has little faith in the way the company is being managed and will be going forward.

“Unite will be doing everything possible to mitigate these job losses which are a hammer blow to the UK’s IT sector and very distressing for employees in the run-up to Christmas.”

Unite said 618 jobs could be lost at the company’s UK HQ in Bracknell, 483 will go at its office at Birchwood Science Park, Warrington and 23 at Sheffield.

The company has been hit by a global fall in PC sales as consumers and businesses too switch to mobile devices and laptop computers.

A spokesperson for the company refuted Unite’s claims over the quantum of Warrington job losses, but declined to provide the number of roles affected, or the number of employees at the office.

A statement added: “HP remains committed to supporting the employability of its employees through a number of internal initiatives, including re-skilling, redeployment and support to obtain alternative employment as appropriate.”

Council leader Terry O’Neill said: “We’re mindful of the distress that this will cause to any redundant employees and their families, and it’s unfortunate for Warrington as a whole that a company is considering local job losses.

“We will work with the company and the unions to mitigate the potential damage, and we hope the company will be able to help redundant employees to re-train and to find work elsewhere.

“For its part, Warrington Borough Council will continue to do everything in its power to help attract new business and new jobs to Warrington.”