Another 1,800 Hewlett Packard Co workers are set to lose their jobs in the wake of the company's merger with Compaq Compaq Corp.

Palo Alto, California-based HP confirmed yesterday that it had raised the number of planned job cuts following the merger, and that 16,800 workers would lose their posts by the end of its fiscal year 2003, instead of the 15,000 originally planned. Of that figure, 10,000 will have gone by the end of its current fiscal year, October 31.

The increase in lay-offs was put down to "a continued market slowdown, and HP's clear intent to have a competitive, world-class cost structure." HP said the slowdown in enterprise IT spending was "persisting 6 to 18 months longer than previously estimated by most economists."

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