HP Enterprise Services readies deeper cuts in UK: Now 1,000 techies face axe

I also today received both these emails which came as a complete kick in the teeth to those if us who stayed loyal to HPE

Those that wanted to take VR have done so already....those that thought they might as well retire early have done so already.

This means the vast majority of those of us still working for this shambles of a company either cannot afford to leave, or simply do not want to.

But hey, what do 780 loyal workers matter to HPE?

What the shareholders don't realise is that with all the redundancies made so far, HPE are struggling to maintain existing support contracts as all of those that were there from the ground up have been tossed aside and replaced with contractors earning in most cases over 5 times the salary of those they have replaced.

Where I work almost an entire support team is made up of contractors with no knowledge of the systems, so SLA's are being broken everywhere, the service given is utterly woeful, and the customer receives little or no actual support.

But hey, Meg says we're on the right track and everything is rosy, so that's ok then.

Look them in the eyes

I respect a manager who personally announces something like this to the assemble staff and is willing to answer questions from the floor. I have seen a few senior managers do this. Hiding behind an email written flack and shyster is despicable.

Brazen contempt for staff

At the same time that they are sacking 780 people across the UK they are running recruitment fairs offering 250+ identical jobs in both Glasgow and Newcastle.

The contempt that HPE shows for employees is boundless.

Pathetic

I got the email yesterday.

Accelerating Next my arse.

If you think you are safe - you are kidding yourself

Another late friday aftenoon email to bring more good news to the employees. These are not redundancies in the true sense of that word.

I would not be surprised if government money is being used to move these jobs around the country.

That's how these multinational tax dodgers work.

So don't get comfy in Newcastle and Erskine. Once a job is moved once it can and will be moved again.

Bulgaria next?

The end

So they are going to get rid of us, we knew it was coming with the migration of work to Newcastle and Erskine. But how will the new recruits actually do any work - as there are no processes or procedures to follow. I have worked on the DWP account for three years, and have delivered project after project - but to do that I had in place a network of people to work with, and nothing else.

But the account will stumble on, HPE paying large amounts for failing. But we will be long gone from this sick company.

I look forward to leaving now.

And exactly how many managers will get the boot?

What's that? None

Par for the course.

HP are doing that Compaq and before them DEC did. Cut the people who actually do the work and hope that contractors will fill the void while getting their rates cut mid contract.

There is a reason why I've said NO to HPE at least four times in the last year. I'd rather be on the bench than work for that lot. The last days of DEC were not pretty. I managed to survive until 1998 when despite my whole team making lots of money we were given the boot by Compaq. What is happening at HPE is all just far too familiar. Gives me the shivvers.

God help all those left (helloooooooooo is there anyonw there) to pick up the pieces.

As someone who fought for and eventually got VR 18 months ago, I read this with a mixture of resignation and wonder; as in I wonder if I could have screwed 18 months more salary before leaving. Of course not! The last 18 months have been happier than the previous 30 years. I sold my last shares to buy some beehives and now have a better knowledge of managing 100,000+ workers than Meg or any of her predecessors ever will.

I left HP before the split, despite being offered a contract extension, cos it was miserable even then. Guys I'm still in touch with say it's worse now.

I've been contacted several times about open days and ignored it. I mentioned them to a couple of guys at my current contract who are looking to move on, and they laughed at me, despite hating the current job.

Anon for obvious reasons.

Remain committed to using voluntary redundancies and redeployment...

....this is a load of rubbish

They pick and choose who is allowed to volunteer. So will turn down a willing leaver in favour of ruining someone's life who actually want to stay and keep their job.

indeed

I'm friendly with a few people who work for HP, and they have been slicing back staff for months. Wife worked for HPe until recently in a call center job, and they have had a hiring freeze since she was there (Literally no new employees, not even temps) meaning they have less than half the staff they need if what I'm told is correct.

Another day at the office

I left HP long ago after being transitioned from EDS and remember receiving an almost identical email on several occasions.

Funny thing is that when a colleague, who had had enough of this, applied for voluntary redundancy ("Expression of Wish" I think they referred to it as) he was told no. He quit anyway!

I also know people who have left and keep getting requests from their ex managers to come back. But who in their right mind would knowingly return to such a demoralising environment?

Puzzled

I am surprised that HP still employ such large numbers that they can remove 1000 without it having any effect on the business

After receiving five phone calls from them in the space of a week, all asking about my infrastructure, what they can do, etc. and being told that we're not a HP shop, nor have we ever been, and no my predecessor wasn't either so don't try and pull that line on me, I've told them they'll never make a sale now.

They are obviously hard-pressed for customers because before this year, I'd not heard of "HPE" at all and didn't know who they were and they weren't interested in me.

The fact that we're totally IBM/Lenovo didn't dissuade them enough to stop them pestering me, though, so I just started blocking their calls.

The cuts are more insensitive than normal this time...

To add insult to injury on the same day that they announced these, and had the initial discussions with this quarter's victims Meg took to Facebook to promote staged photos of staff posing in front of a giant green box to promote Employee Appreciation Day.

They don't care, and they're out of ideas. Things will not get any better until Mike Nefkens and Tom Egan are identified as being the one-trick ponies that they are. Cut, cut, cut.

The beginning of the end

After joining HP (not voluntarily) and 8 years later I wonder how I stuck it out so long.

No pay rises to speak of in 8 years , do training in your own time (at you own cost too!) , get your career development plan going (in your on time too, obviously) : this against a backdrop of being , for the last 3 quarters, at risk of redundancy. During that time I received a bonus for good work !! In the last year I applied for redundancy - and was refused. I've just been asked to apply again. Just like I have been every quarter since the day I joined HP.

This time last year HP was "inundated" with VR requests from project managers. I know that for a fact.

It's a mess from top to bottom.

Grads recruited as cheap labour (if we can recruit any) and leave pretty damn quick when they realize what they signed up for. The company seriously got someone working to find out why grads had such a high churn rate.

HP can't get any more staff into their RDCs - there isn't enough space for the people already working there.

People whose roles are to move to RDCs are being strung along - HP can't/won't tell them when the roles move. Could be 6 0r 7 weeks , could be months.

But keep up the good work lads !!!

Last week's news

To Whitman, as with any other CEO, the "adjustments" being executed by her hit squads are last year's news and nothing to do with her now. Her decision was in the past, the execution delegated. She'll pose and pout as much as Hurd used to in pursuit of happy images of the future whilst merrily ignoring the carnage being wrought in her wake.

As far as the CEO, Egan etc are concerned the 780 have already gone.

Freedom in sight......

HPE really do seem intent on blowing their own feet off. I am one of those who was told my job was not in scope for redundancy as such, but would be moving to Erskine.

I and several others had meetings 2 weeks ago with our immediate managers who told us our roles were very important and that we couldn't be given VR until our Erskine based replacements had been recruited, trained up and a handover had taken place. However, last Friday, more senior Manglers sent out an email to us all advising that we were in a pool for redundancy at the end of April (for my pool around 90% of the infrastructure engineers / designers are going, only 2 will be left - other pools at Lytham are similar ratios). They did this without even telling our immediate managers in advance.

This is backfiring badly for HPE, as everyone has been wanting to be CR'd for ages, so they get their payoff and obviously any income protection insurance for mortgages etc. pays out. We are all pretty much over the moon. Meanwhile, the immediate managers, realising whole teams are going to be decimated by last Friday's email, are frantically back-pedalling and asking people if they'll stay on a few months longer whilst they recruit. Everyone to a man is telling them to go forth and multiply.

Anyone who has been foolish enough to outsource to HPE needs to take a long, hard look at their contract as SLA's are already suffering and failures will go through the roof after this round of CR's.

I also do not like the tag of anonymous coward tag - I have a wife, and children to support - HPE is a sick company with no fucking morals at all

Never ending!

It's never ending! The only thing that's keeping the job going is the loyalty of the troops on the ground to their own customers, and each other, Management are so detached and remote from their own teams it's laughable, they have little clue what's going on in their own areas, and seem to care less!

It's one of the most unethical organisations I have ever worked for, treating employees and customers with equal disdain.

Won't be much longer before the whole lot goes down the pan, good luck to all those working in Erskine and Newcastle, you'll need it!

Taken the plunge

I have just registered for VR - as I don't live anywhere near the RDC's and am not client facing I am on borrowed time, and the whispers of the package being slashed after this round decided it for me.

Bet the buggers refuse my application now....

Complete mess

Employees totally in the dark about what is going on, management closed ranks and compulsory redundancies imminent.

Horrible awful place to work.

Health issues

As an exemployee (made redundant Jan 16) my only advice would be for those left to get out asap. Health is more important!

I find myself reading about redundancies within Enterprise Services almost every other Q and expect to continue to read about them for the foreseeable future. One thing that does surprise me is where people believe the blame lies and that I've never heard Andy Isherwood's name mentioned? (The MD himself). His focus is on Corporate hardware and always will be (revenues and margin wise he's probably right to do so), Enterprise Services is a necessary evil that will no longer get the investment it deserves

All to blame!

We are all to blame for putting up with the crap and believing the bullshit they feed us! If people stopped taking on the duties and tasks of colleagues made redundant they wouldn't be able to do what they do and fleece us and the country!

Absolutely scummy company that makes four billion a year profit and still wants more!

Seems that we have not even left (Friday) and the next round of cuts are starting.

Goes on and on

Yet another email asking for volunteers to go! How can a Company involved in so many Government contracts take so many staff out of it's business?

How come no one in authority is taking notice of all this?

It's an absolute disgrace!

Management

The question that needs asking is why are staff not located in the RDC's being exited yet managers are fine, also more senior managers are still OK to work from home whilst staff are made to return to the office....double standards.