More tech layoffs hit Bay Area as HP and Autodesk announce job cuts

Another circular of layoffs deed the San Francisco Bay Area’s volatile tech industry.

HP Inc. plans to laic disconnected up to 2,000 much employees arsenic the institution looks for ways to slash costs amid economical uncertainty and eyes much investments successful artificial intelligence.

The occupation cuts are portion of a restructuring program called Future Now the institution announced successful 2022 arsenic it saw income for idiosyncratic computers driblet aft the COVID-19 pandemic fueled the emergence of distant work.

The machine and printer shaper said it planned to chopped 7,000 employees implicit 3 years, according to its 2024 yearly report.

HP’s updated restructuring program volition prevention the institution an estimated $300 cardinal by the extremity of fiscal twelvemonth 2025, according to a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission connected Thursday.

With the other layoffs, the institution expects to prevention $1.9 cardinal from fiscal twelvemonth 2023 done fiscal twelvemonth 2025, the filing said. HP has astir 58,000 workers globally. HP didn’t instantly respond to a petition for comment.

The Palo Alto tech elephantine is the latest tech institution to slash their payroll arsenic they brace for imaginable economical challenges and contention up to physique much AI-powered products.

Autodesk — which makes bundle utilized by architects, designers and engineers — besides announced this week it plans to chopped 1,350 positions, oregon astir 9% of its workforce, citing geopolitical and macroeconomic factors on with its efforts to put much heavy successful AI, according to a regulatory filing. Meta successful February chopped 3,600 workers oregon astir 5% of its workforce.

This week, Google besides chopped less than 100 radical successful its unreality division, Bloomberg reported earlier. A Google spokesperson confirmed the layoffs but said successful a connection the institution is “making changes to proceed to put successful areas that are captious to our concern and guarantee our semipermanent success.”

HP has been doubling down connected investments successful artificial quality arsenic well. The institution is betting much consumers volition bargain its idiosyncratic computers filled with AI tools. Earlier successful February, HP acquired Humane AI — the shaper of a wearable AI pin that flopped amid user complaints and atrocious reviews — for $116 million.

“We look guardant to boosting our exertion and innovation enactment by integrating the Humane squad to HP,” HP Chief Executive Enrique Lores said connected the company’s quarterly net telephone this week. “We’re besides realigning our cardinal maturation areas to bespeak the displacement of our concern absorption connected the aboriginal of work.”

Cost-cutting could assistance tech companies mitigate the effects of economical and geopolitical uncertainty during President Trump’s 2nd administration. Trump said this week helium plans to enforce an other 10% tariff connected Chinese imports.

HP, which manufactures immoderate of its products successful China, is expanding to different countries, Lores said connected the call. Although China continues to beryllium an important manufacturing hub, the institution expects 90% of HP products sold successful North America volition beryllium built extracurricular China by fiscal twelvemonth 2025.

HP reported $13.5 cardinal successful gross for the archetypal quarter, up 2.4% from the aforesaid play past year. The institution reported a nett net of $565 million. Its shares dropped astir 7% to $30.87 connected Friday.