Re: layoffs – coming in Q2
No kidding -- I think there is still a ton of fat that HP needs to cut. Too bad tech company layoffs often get rid of the meat and keep the fat.
I know HP had a huge round of layoffs last year when it finally got around to merging the PC and printer divisions. But that still doesn't account for all the product guys, sales guys, etc. that manage all 300 identical crap consumer HP PCs that they sell to Best Buy and the like. They probably also have multiple layers of redundant people in EDS that haven't been kicked out yet.
I work for a medium sized IT service provider, and it absolutely boggles my mind how many people in our company could be made redundant without much impact. And that's not a case of, "Oh, you just don't know what they do..." it's actually, "They don't do much of anything!" I'm by no means a workaholic, but putting in just a little extra effort really helps you avoid layoffs. Unfortunately, economics often dictates that you have to be content to not be the highest paid person on your team either...