HP, Sun to shut down for a week to save costs

SAN FRANCISCO: Computer makers Hewlett-Packard Co. and Sun Microsystems Inc.

will close down for the week of July 4 in a reprise of an extended cost-saving

holiday declared in much of Silicon Valley last year.

Most US employees of both companies have been asked to take vacation, and

workers at Sun, which will turn off the lights for the week for the second year

in a row, have the option of taking unpaid leave, a spokeswoman said.

HP told employees in an internal memo obtained by Reuters that the

"summer holiday closure" would "help improve efficiency and

enhance our ability to execute through the current US market softness". HP

last year had asked employees to take time off of their choosing and also

announced layoffs to save costs during the economic and technology downturn, and

Compaq Computer Corp, acquired by HP earlier this month, had a similar closure

in July last year.

Many companies in the San Francisco Bay Area shut for the week around the

July 4 US Independence Day holiday.