HP Asia to lay off 10% staff

SINGAPORE: Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific said on Wednesday it expects to lay

off about 10 per cent of its combined workforce of 20,000 employees after its

US$18.7 billion merger with Compaq Computer.

"There is no headcount goal that we've set for each region or

country," HP spokeswoman Cecilia Pang said in an e-mail reply to Reuters.

"As a rough estimate, overall in the region it could be close to the global

10 per cent, but the final number is really dependent on each business."

The US computer and printer maker, whose eight-month battle to merge with

Compaq was marked by one of the corporate world's most bitter proxy fights, has

said it would cut 15,000 jobs by November 2003, a year ahead of schedule.

This represents about 10 per cent of the combined workforce. The merged group

plans to make the cuts through attrition and targeted job reductions. HP also

hopes to trim $3 billion in costs by late 2004, some $500 million more than

expected.

Paul Chan, HP's new Asia-Pacific managing director, told Singapore's Business

Times newspaper that the 10 per cent figure was a "rough-cut number".

"If we need to do more, we would rather do it earlier than later," he

was quoted as saying.