Hewlett-Packard plans to axe 1,124 jobs in UK

Computer giant Hewlett-Packard is set to cut more than 1,000 jobs in the UK as part of a global downsizing, the company announced today.

The Unite union said HP blamed the cuts, which could see up 1,124 employees losing their jobs by 2014, on falling demand for desktop computers as users turn to tables and mobile phones, after attending a management meeting with the US company.

More than 600 jobs could be lost at the group's Bracknell site, close to 500 at Warrington and 23 at Sheffield, according to the union, adding that the computer maker has become "addicted to a culture of job cuts".

"Unite will be doing everything possible to mitigate these job losses, which are a hammer blow to the UK's IT sector and very distressing for employees in the run-up to Christmas," said the union's national officer, Ian Tonks.

HP currently employees more than 15,000 workers in the UK.

In a statement, the company said: "The proposed UK workforce management plan is part of HP's global multi-year productivity initiative that was announced on 23 May 2012, and updated at its securities analysts meeting on 9 October 2013, to address current market and business pressures in support of HP's turnaround in Europe, the Middle East and Africa."

Hewlett-Packard has undertaken an ambitions turnaround plan under chief executive Meg Whitman after seeing a decline in traditional business operations such as PC sales, re-focusing on creating enterprise value.