Is HPE Planning to Cut 5,000 Jobs?

Hewlett Packard Enterprise plans to cut about 10% of its staff, at least 5,000 people, as it looks to trim expenses in the face of mounting competition, according to reports.

The reductions will start before the end of the year, says Bloomberg, citing sources requesting confidentiality. Workers in both the US and abroad, including managers, will be affected. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has about 50,000 workers.

HPE has been shedding business units since 2015, including a big split between the PC and printer business on the one hand, which is now doing business as Hewlett Packard, and, on the other, HPE, which retains the original company's enterprise, cloud and telecoms business.

Chief Financial Officer Tim Stonesifer said on an earnings call this month that the company is looking to save $1.5 billion over three years, Bloomberg noted. On the same call, CEO Meg Whitman said she's looking to make the company more efficient, even as the business sees growing demand.

HPE, along with Cisco and Dell EMC, are the leading suppliers of cloud infrastructure, according to a recent study from Synergy Research Group. HPE leads in storage in particular. (See Cisco, HPE, Dell EMC Fighting for Cloud Infrastructure Dominance.)

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HPE sees the future of the industry, and its own business, as "hybrid IT," where enterprises have a mix of public, private and hybrid clouds, as well as legacy systems, and computing moves out to the "intelligent edge," Whitman said at the company's user conference in June. (See Meg Whitman: HPE Will Live on the Intelligent Edge.)

HPE disclosed better-than-expected results in the third quarter of fiscal 2017, ending July 31. Revenue was $8.21 billion, higher than the $7.49 billion expected by analysts. (See HPE's Whitman Says She's 'Not Going Anywhere'.)

HPE spun off its software assets to Micro Focus in an $8.8 billion deal completed weeks ago. (See HPE Spins Software Business to Micro Focus for $8.8B .)

It also announced plans this month to acquire cloud consultancy Cloud Technology Partners to beef up its expertise in hybrid IT. (See HPE to Acquire Cloud Consulting Business.)

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