Whatever Hewlett-Packard once was, it is no longer. As it prepares to split into two companies-one that sells data center equipment and services, another that sells PCs and printers-HP estimates that 55,000 of its employees, about 1 in 6, will lose their jobs. Even more staggering than the sheer scale of those firings (most of which had already been announced) is that they come not because HP has some big idea or grand new vision it's trying to meet, but because it doesn't. Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman's decision, announced on Oct. 6, is about placating investors as much as anything. HP's shares have yet to recover from former CEO Mark Hurd's scandal-tinged exit in 2010, and while Whitman has done a great deal to stabilize the company and boost research and development, her five-year turnaround plan has stalled. She promised growth by this year, but that hasn't happened, and HP shows no sign of meeting that goal next year.
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