BUSINESS SECTION

Support positions being cut in Littleton, Springs

By Rocky Mountain News
August 9, 2005

 

Hewlett-Packard has confirmed it is cutting jobs in Colorado and moving the positions to Guadalajara, Mexico.

 

H-P spokesman Ryan Donovan confirmed the authenticity of a memo obtained by The (Colorado Springs) Gazette last week.

 

The news comes as state lawmakers in Colorado are studying the state's procurement procedures, raising the possibility of new legislation to bar Colorado from using offshore workers to perform state services.

 

H-P, based in Palo Alto, Calif., has plans to cut about 14,500 jobs companywide.

 

"The reductions will take place over the next six quarters," Donovan said.

 

H-P, which employs about 150,000 worldwide, has about 5,400 workers in Colorado.

 

The memo said cuts would include the loss of a still-undetermined number of positions from customer service centers in Colorado.

 

The memo said customer service jobs would be cut in Colorado Springs and Littleton, as well as in Omaha and Indianapolis, and moved to the company's business center in Guadalajara. The memo said the moves would occur "from September 2005 through May 2006."

 

Asked whether those laid off would be offered jobs elsewhere in the company, Donovan said: "Wherever possible, we try to make redeployment possible for any employees affected by a work force reduction."

 

The Inquirer, a British online tech journal, reported Friday that H-P was sending support jobs to Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and India. The journal also said the Colorado Springs center is likely to be phased out by Oct. 31 and that workers "are training their replacements now."

 

Donovan declined to comment on the report.

 

The company has not given figures on how many workers staff the customer service centers, but H-P in July opened a call center in Boise, Idaho, that employs more than 200.

 

H-P officials have said the previously announced cuts, about 10 percent of the company's full-time staff, are part of a restructuring plan designed to boost performance and save $1.9 billion annually.

 

In Colorado, a 10-member panel of state lawmakers and others Monday began studying the state's procurement procedures.

 

The panel, scheduled to hold six meetings between now and Oct. 10, is expected to look at a variety of topics, including offshoring and the disclosure of offshore contracts.

 

The panel - known as Interim Committee to Study the State Procurement Process - can recommend legislation.

 

A bill to prevent Colorado from using offshore workers to do state services died in the Senate last year. Budget analysts had said the measure would cost taxpayers $24 million.

 

The senator who introduced the bill - Lakewood Democrat Deanna Hanna - had vowed to return with a new bill in 2006. She is a member of the state procurement panel.

 

"The Hewlett-Packard story is a good example of how detrimental outsourcing is to local economies," said Rep. Mike Muirfield, a Manitou Springs Democrat who supported Hanna's legislation.

 

Business groups and Republicans opposed the measure, saying it would jack up costs for the state because companies would be barred from using offshore labor that often is cheaper.

 

"Most large companies at this point do some component of offshoring," said Jessica Wright, executive director of Area Mountain States Council, a high-tech trade group.

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