HP will finish laying off close to 3,000 workers by October, the company said today in a regulatory filing.

The printer company dropped 1,600 workers by April 30 with many of its staffers taking voluntary severance packages. Another 1,400 employees will be let go by the end of HP's fiscal year in October. These moves forced HP to take up to $236m in charges through its first two fiscal quarters of 2005, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Hurd gained a fearsome reputation for his efficient, cost-cutting moves at NCR, which included offshoring work, shrinking support staff and offering retirement packages to longtime employees. Such moves will not go over well at HP where many employees already feel beaten down by previous CEO Carly Fiorina's tenure.

HP's purchase of Compaq resulted in thousands of workers losing their jobs and plenty of bad blood between rival corporate cultures. Hurd must try and revive morale while still improving HP's operations in the eyes of Wall Street. Not an easy task. ®

Related stories

Sun critics hear the sound of two garbage trucks colliding
IBM UK workers in the dark as firing crunch time hits
15,000 HP workers get nervous as analyst predicts massive job cuts
UK job cuts as HP outsources support to India