HP jobs cuts 'not set in stone'

HP's restructuring plans, which will see 1,240 staff laid off in France between now and 2008, could be trimmed down, French employment minister Gérard Larcher has said. The announcement came on Monday night, following a meeting with the head of HP France, Francesco Serafini.

According to the minister, the boss of HP indicated that the number of job cuts "was not definitely set and could be revised downwards".

Serafini also shed light on how much each subsidiary of HP had to alter the plan. "The management of HP France has a mandate to determine, through negotiation with workers' representatives, the most appropriate means to conduct the reorganisation of jobs within HP France over the next two years," he said.

Finally, he promised HP France's management will favour "the redeployment of workers towards future jobs within HP", and added that the company would refocus its business in France "towards commercially strategic sectors".