HP To Cut 27,000 Jobs, Says It Is 'Making Real Progress'

By Michael Liedtke

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman has quantified the painful price that must be paid for the missteps of her predecessors as she tries to turn around the Silicon Valley pioneer. The bungling will wipe out 27,000 jobs so HP can save enough money to lift its earnings and invest in the development of more profitable products and service.

The streamlining announced late Wednesday amounts to the largest payroll purge in Hewlett-Packard Co.'s 73-year history. About 8 percent of HP's nearly 350,000 employees are to be gone by October 2014.