Free Republic

It's hard to run for president when your name is synonymous with massive layoffs. The No. 1 criticism lofted at Carly Fiorina is that she oversaw the disastrous 2002 Compaq merger, leading to some 30,000 layoffs at Hewlett-Packard during her tenure as CEO. Fiorina has tried to spin the layoffs, saying they were the result of bad timing that coincided with the bursting of the tech bubble in 2000. She has also noted -- correctly — that despite bruising layoffs, she hired more people than she fired. HP and Compaq had a combined 148,100 employees just before she was hired...

Hewlett-Packard announced Wednesday that it is slashing 27,000 jobs in a widely expected maneuver aimed at slimming down the struggling tech giant. The company expects the layoffs, which amount to 8% of its worldwide workforce, to save $3 billion to $3.5 billion by the end of 2014. The majority of that savings will be reinvested in research and development, HP said. The changes "will further streamline our operations, improve our processes, and remove complexity from our business," Meg Whitman, HP's CEO, said in a prepared statement. "While some of these actions are difficult because they involve the loss of jobs,...

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) unveiled plans to lay off 27,000 employees as the technology giant also reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings slumped 31% amid relatively flat revenue in its personal computer business and lower sales in its printing segment. However, shares were up 7% at $22.46 in recent after-hours trading as earnings beat the company's expectations and as the company raised its full-year view. The company said it plans to lay off about 8% of its workforce by the end of fiscal 2014. Its restructuring plans are expected to generate annualized savings of between $3 billion and $3.5 billion by 2014,...