HP to cut up to 1 in 10 jobs. Will AI replace some workers in Boise?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- HP Inc. plans up to 6,000 global layoffs and will embed AI into operations.
- Company targets $1 billion savings in part from AI in product and service workflows.
- Boise workforce shrank to about 1,700 by 2018; today’s employment unclear.
A prominent technology company that was once a major Boise employer says it will lay off thousands of workers and plans to use artificial intelligence to pick up some of their work.
Hewlett Packard Inc. still employs workers in space it leases on the former HP campus in Northwest Boise that the state bought in 2017. But its Boise employment is far lower than the 4,000 that the original Hewlett-Packard had reported in 2014 even after earlier downsizings. Employment fell to 1,700 by 2018, a year after the campus sale.
The company isn’t saying how many workers it has today on the Boise campus or how many may be affected by the layoffs. It’s saying only that it will trim up to 6,000 jobs worldwide in the next few years, roughly one job in 10. The company said in a regulatory filing in December 2024 that it employs 58,000 people worldwide.
“We see a significant opportunity to embed AI into HP to accelerate product innovation, improve customer satisfaction, and boost productivity,” President and CEO Enrique Lores told analysts on a Nov. 25 call. “… We have a line of sight to drive approximately $1 billion of gross run rate savings over three years across product development, customer service and support, and many of our operational processes. This will result in workforce reductions of 4,000-6,000 people over the next years.”
The layoffs are only the latest in the storied history of a business founded by engineers Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in 1939 in Palo Alto, California.
The company, then known as Hewlett-Packard Co., built the 92-acre campus at 11311 W. Chinden Blvd. starting in 1980. HP’s printing unit used part of the campus for manufacturing but later ended that. Early in the 21st century, HP cut staff, consolidated its remaining Boise operations and personnel into fewer buildings, and began renting out space to call centers and other businesses.
HP split in two in 2015, creating HP Inc., or HPI, which sells personal computers and printers; and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., or HPE, which sells data storage and servers and offers computer-related services. Both companies kept workers at the Boise campus — especially HPI, which is the world’s second-largest maker of PCs, according to Gartner, an industry analytical firm.
HPI did not respond to two emails from the Idaho Statesman requesting information about the layoffs’ impact on its Idaho operations, including whether the company will continue to operate in Boise.
The company had not filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification as of Tuesday. WARN notices are generally required under federal law when companies with 100 or more employees shut down or have mass layoffs.
