HP has reopened layoffs at big tech companies. The American manufacturer of personal computers (PCs) and printers has communicated an adjustment plan that involves the exit of between 4,000 and 6,000 employees, approximately 10% of the total, in parallel with the introduction of new initiatives related to artificial intelligence (AI). The company had a workforce of 58,000 workers.
In its fiscal fourth-quarter financial report, released Tuesday evening as stock markets closed in the United States, HP indicated that it expects to achieve savings of up to $1 billion in fiscal 2028, with restructuring costs of $650 million (250 million in the current fiscal year).
Investors have already reacted pessimistically. HP shares fell about 5% in the pre-opening on Wall Street and have lost more than 25% of their value since the beginning of the year. HP currently capitalizes just under $23 billion.
In the fourth quarter, which ended at the end of October, revenue rose 4.2% to $14.64 billion, slightly above forecasts, with net income of $795 million. Overall for the year, revenues stood at 55,300 million, 3% more in reported terms, with a generation of free cash flow of 2,931 million, 26% less. For fiscal 2026, HP expects to generate free cash flow of between $2.8 billion and $3 billion, including additional costs resulting from current U.S. trade regulations and approved measures.
“We continue to execute on our strategy for the future of work. We are accelerating innovation with AI-powered devices that leverage these technologies in edge and create better joint experiences across our portfolio,” said the Spanish Enrique Lores, president and CEO of HP, in the conference with analysts that followed the presentation of the accounts.
In turn, CFO Karen Parkhill said the company continues to invest in driving internal transformation. “We see a great opportunity to integrate artificial intelligence into almost everything we do, in order to improve productivity, accelerate innovation and optimize the customer experience. As Enrique mentioned, we have already made excellent progress in identifying key areas that are expected to generate approximately $1 billion in gross savings by the end of our fiscal year 2028,” underlined the manager, adding that, during the last fiscal year, HP returned $1.9 billion to its shareholders between dividends and share repurchases own.
In any case, HP has joined other large American technology companies that have announced layoffs in recent weeks. Prominent among these are Amazon, which at the end of October announced a global adjustment that will affect 14,000 workers in its corporate workforce this year. Indeed, as part of this restructuring, Amazon has proposed an ERE in Spain for 1,200 employees in its offices in Madrid and Barcelona.
In turn, Meta confirmed at the end of October the exit of almost 600 employees from its AI division, with the aim of reducing structures and operating with greater agility. Facebook’s parent company announced the cuts in a note from its AI director, Alexandr Wang, who joined Meta last June following Mark Zuckerberg’s company’s $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI. Employees in Meta’s AI infrastructure units, Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) unit, and other product-related positions would be affected. Wang’s arrival would also mean the departure of Yann LeCun, Meta’s chief AI scientist.
Likewise, Apple has eliminated dozens of positions on its sales floor in an effort to streamline how it offers products to businesses, schools and governments, a rare move for the iPhone maker, according to Bloomberg. The cuts have spread to the entire commercial organisation, particularly affecting some teams, although the company has not confirmed the number of people affected.
Affected positions included account managers at large corporations, schools, and government agencies, as well as staff who managed Apple’s information centers for institutional meetings and product demonstrations for major customers.
Additionally, among other companies, Rivian will cut 600 employees, about 4% of its workforce; Applied Materials plans to cut 4% of its workforce, about 1,400 jobs; Google has cut 100 positions in its IT division. cloud; Just Eat has cut 450 jobs; xAI, the start of the artificial intelligence led by Elon Musk, has fired a third of the employees of its data team; Oracle has reduced several hundred positions in several centers in the United States; while Salesforce cut 262 jobs at its headquarters, due to the implementation of artificial intelligence in areas such as customer service.
