Sources Claim HP Closing Doors on VoodooPC
Since the announcement of the mass layoffs from HP, rumors have been flying around as to exactly which departments are really going to get their doors closed.
A lot of rumors the past few days are speculating that HP is shutting down VoodooPC operations.
According to a credible inside source at the VoodooPC offices in Calgary, AB in Canada – Employees started getting layoff and severance packages today. Quoting our sources:
“A large number of employees were called for meetings with their superiors in private starting just before noon today. The meetings were classic of layoff procedures whereby employees were thanked for their time and contribution to the company. It appears that the technical support people were walked out while supervisory/managerial staff were asked to stick around and work more shifts”
Sources also claim that today was the first wave of layoffs and more were to follow the next day. Quoting another source:
“All VoodooPC operations in Canada are being shutdown permanently. It appears that HP will be approaching this situation in a similar fashion to how Dell handled its mass layoffs. Staged-reduction over a period of a few months.”
Sources were unsure however if this was a global action as not much information is being provided. When our sources asked for more information from their superiors, they were given very transparent answers that did not give much insight on a global closing or if it was strictly Canadian based.
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
VoodooPC founder and HP CTO Rahul Sood is normally the first to break any sort of news, but at time of writing his blog is still without mention of any changes to the HP Voodoo Business Unit. He did, however, say to Gizmodo, "HP is working on a plan to better leverage its existing resources to bring Voodoo products to market faster and make them more accessible to consumers. I can assure you that Voodoo employees and champions of the brand will continue to work on the conceptualization, design and development of Voodoo products," which basically translates to an affirmation that change already in the air.
HP spokeswoman Marlene Somsak had little to comment to CNET, saying only, "We continually assess and rebalance the size of our work force relative to the business environment and market conditions."
With the large amount of staff being shown the door by HP, the possibility of VoodooPC being closed entirely seems more and more real. We would imagine more and more employees will start talking over the next few days and possibly clarify even more as to what is going on.
-
captaincharisma ever sense i heard the news about HP buying voodoo PC i knew this would happen. I'm surprised Dell hasn't done it with Alienware yetReply -
Blessedman Its funny... Walk out on a corporate job and see what that gets you. No two week notice, just walk out. You will have a hard time finding another corporate job. They should extend the same amount of respect that they demand from their employees.Reply
It won't matter in the end about VoodooPC as what was the heart and soul of VoodooPC was the attention they paid to details. HP could not afford to spend that kind of time on a per PC setup. The shareholders of HP are the ones that should be going ballistic as all those resources are now evaporating. -
rocky1234 This is truly sad to hear. I do not own a Voodoo PC but I find that this is just the normal thing now that big companies feel they can do. They go in scoop up a smaller company gut them & then kill them off slowly. This has been going on for long while & there needs to be rules set in place that could stop this or at least make these big company have to take notice that this kind of crap is just bad for everyone as well as being bad for them too as it gives them a black eye in peoples minds. good example EA GAMES these guys need to stand up & take notice that most people are tired of the way they do business by buying companies then hosing these companies over. So yes its just another sad day in the corporate world nothing we can do about it.....or is there.Reply -
ravenware I wonder if they would be able reopen as VoodooPC? If not they may just start a new brandname.Reply -
captaincharisma yea HP desktop line is of poor quality filled with cheap parts and filled with crapware. i fear that the voodoo pc line now may just be a box that looks good but on the inside be a box that is filled with basic and refurbished partsReply