Subscribe to our newsletter

H-P NYSE: HPQ closes Ruesselsheim, Germany site, 850 to be laid off

Hewlett-Packard Co. will close its site in Ruesselsheim, Germany, by the end of October and layoff about 850 employees, or 8.5% of its workforce in the country as part of a previously announced broader restructuring effort.

“The changes we are announcing in Germany today are a necessary part of our commitment to deliver our long-term operating model,” said Mike Nefkens, executive vice president of H-P Enterprise Services.

The Californis technology giant is in a multiyear turnaround as the personal-computer market faces growing pressure from mobile devices, intense price competition and economic uncertainty in emerging markets.

H-P is seeing falling interest in printers among consumers, who have shifted from relying on paper to using their mobile devices instead. Servers have seen their prices fall along with desktop and laptop computers, taking margins along with them.

Last March, the company announced a sweeping reorganization plan that would fold its printing business into its PC-making personal-systems group and centralize many other functions. It later disclosed plans to lay off 27,000 workers. Though the company says its computer, software, services and printer businesses can be reinvigorated, it expects revenue for the current F-Y to fall in each of its largest businesses.

The latest restructuring affects the H-P enterprise services business in Germany, and will not affect any of the company’s other major sites in the country. H-P will continue to employ about 10,000 people in Germany.

As part of the commig closure of the Ruesselsheim site, about 850 positions will be eliminated. H-P said employees affected by the changes will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at its other sites. It said the roughly 250 employees that remain at the site will have the opportunity to transfer to H-P partners or clients.

In November, H-P reported a nearly $7-B loss for its F-Q-4, writing down software unit Autonomy citing accounting irregularities, among other reasons.

LTN Analysis for HPQ: Overall Short Intermediate Long
Bullish (0.38) Bullish (0.40) Bullish (0.44) Bullish (0.31)