| Saudi prince 'murdered' servant A Saudi Arabian prince murdered his servant in a London hotel in an attack with a "gay sexual element", the Old Bailey hears. bbc.co.uk |
Hewlett-Packard to axe another 1,300 UK jobs • Computer giant Hewlett-Packard will increase automation at business outsourcing division• Unite union says cuts call into question hopes of new jobs and growth in hi-techHewlett-Packard today announced a further 1,300 redundancies in Britain, less than a year after cutting more than 900 staff from the UK business.The latest cuts came as part of the computer company's global plans to automate functions at its business outsourcing division. HP announced in June that it would make 9,000 redundancies around the world as part of what it called a $1bn investment in automated data centres. It said then that the move would benefit clients.The company has sites across the UK, including in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Derby, London, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Sheffield, Uxbridge and Warrington, and the scale of the losses suggest its operations here will bear the brunt of the damage. About one in 10 UK employees will go, compared with a total of one in 30 worldwide. HP employs 300,000 people worldwide and about 16,000 in the UK.Combined with a further 4,000 job cuts over the past two years, the latest cuts will mean that more than 6,000 jobs have been lost at HP in the UK since 2008, according to union figures. The company announced 900 job cuts late last year.HP told its workforce the news today. It is expected to hold a round of consultation meetings at the end of this month and begin a 90-day consultation period from then.The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said that it would ballot on industrial action if any of its staff were subject to compulsory redundancy.Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS, said: "This is not being driven by financial necessity, but by Hewlett-Packard's relentless obsession with profit."Cuts in areas such as Newcastle will have a devastating effect on the local economy and will simply increase the number of people out of work and dependent on welfare benefits."The company indicated that the redundancies were not related to performance. Its most recent quarterly results filing in the US indicated growth in both revenue and profits.The Unite union said that the move brought into question "the government's assumption that the hi-tech private sector will be the motor for growth and new jobs in the UK".Peter Skyte, Unite national officer, said: "Despite significant profits HP appears hell-bent on continuing to butcher its highly skilled UK workforce. Morale is at an all-time low."Lax employment protection in the UK compared to other European countries means that the UK is bearing the brunt of cuts, as it's quicker and cheaper to sack UK people and export their jobs abroad."A spokeswoman for HP said: "HP is in consultation with the appropriate representative bodies within the UK regarding potential workforce changes, which were announced on 1 June 2010. This is an initiative to transform HP's enterprise services business to benefit clients through new offerings and improved service delivery."Hewlett-PackardJob lossesComputingguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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