HP logo. Image: Anton Watman/Shutterstock
It has been confirmed that up to 500 jobs will be lost with the closure of HP Inc’s inkjet cartridge manufacturing plant in Leixlip.
As reported this morning (8 February), staff at HP Inc in Leixlip had been anxiously awaiting news about the future of the inkjet manufacturing facility.
A meeting was called by management to brief the staff at 10am this morning, where HP announced the decision to close its global print business in Leixlip, with the loss of 500 jobs in the next year.
In a statement, the company said: “In line with our previously communicated strategy, HP’s global print business is working to drive continuous efficiencies and cost savings that enable investment in new market opportunities and growth initiatives, such as 3D printing.
‘It is likely that close to 500 HP employees will be impacted and leave the business over the next 12 months’
– HP
“As a result, we have made the decision to close our global print business at the Leixlip site. It is likely that close to 500 HP employees will be impacted and leave the business over the next 12 months.
“Leixlip has been an important HP site since 1995 and has a long history of valuable contribution, innovation and business excellence. This decision is not a reflection on our Ireland employees or on the site’s performance. We are very aware of the impact this decision will have on our employees in Ireland and we are focusing all of our efforts on supporting them, on identifying opportunities for them and on providing a programme to help them prepare for the transition ahead.
“Ireland has been an important location for HP and remains an excellent environment for technology companies. Ireland will remain a key market for HP, where we will maintain the sales operations for our printing and personal systems business.”
Across the operations on the Leixlip campus, workers are engaged in manufacturing, sales, treasury management and business analytics.
HP Inc’s sister company Hewlett Packard Enterprise employs 2,000 people and will not be affected by the closure.
Background on HP Inc restructure
In 2015, HP split into two companies, HP Inc and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, to better compete in a rapidly changing technology market.
HP Inc planned to continue making consumer devices such as PCs, printers and ink cartridges while HP Enterprise concentrated focus on opportunities in the cloud and business transformation.
However, HP Inc has run into financial pressure and in October last year, it revealed plans to cut 3,000-4000 jobs between 2017 and 2019 as part of a $500m restructuring drive.
HP Inc continues to battle falling PC sales.
HP logo. Image: Anton Watman/Shutterstock
