Tech layoffs

The trend of layoffs in the tech sector continues. The axe is falling at HP (HPQ). And while it might be a slow, prolonged cut, it's going to be noticeable nonetheless.

HP's announcement that it will shed between 4,000 and 6,000 jobs by the end of its 2025 fiscal year wasn't something that Chief Executive Enrique Lores was happy to disclose after Tuesday's market close. But Lores admitted that after a difficult fiscal fourth quarter, and not-so-great outlook, cutting potentially more than 10% of HP's workforce was necessary. Lores said the job cuts are part of a strategy to create a "Future Ready" HP.

"Wage growth data indicates that highest wage earnings saw the largest decline in real wages, whereas lowest earners’ wage growth largely matched inflation," BofA added. "As a result, companies are seeing high-income consumers trading down for cheaper goods/services - mentions of 'trade down' during earnings calls soared to a record level, topping the GFC level."

Speaking on a conference call to discuss HP's results and outlook, Lores said that the "ultimate goal" of the company is to develop its product portfolio and "operational capabilities to drive sustainable growth" and save as much money as possible during what is expected to be a prolonged period of economic uncertainty, inflation and some declines in customer demand.

To that end, Lores, and CFO Marie Myers said that the job cuts were part of a plan that would cut costs and generate "run rate savings" of at least $1.4B by the end of HP's 2025 fiscal year. "We take (job) reductions very seriously," Myers said, and added that the steps HP was taking were "critical to the long-term health" of the long-time PC and printing technology leader. But, in the meantime, factors such as "headwinds to long-term growth" are going to be around for a while.

Pressure building: "Layoff announcements are not a reliable guide to jobless claims in the short term," Pantheon Macro said. "But we cannot ignore the upward trend in recent months; claims likely will follow."

"Layoff pressure is building, with a weekly record number of layoff news on Bloomberg, following the notable headlines from META and AMZN," BofA said. "Monthly new job postings have plummeted YTD, down 30% for the S&P 500 (SPY) YTD, led by high-paying jobs in Tech (XLK) and Financials (XLF): Comm. Svcs. (XLC) -63%, Tech -47%, and Financials -34%." (18 comments)

Manchester United on the block

Manchester United (MANU) has confirmed its board has launched a process to "explore strategic alternatives" for the club.

An earlier report of a strategic exploration that could range all the way to selling the club ended up sending MANU stock up 14.7% on the session, a day where it hit its highest point since last December. "As part of this process, the Board will consider all strategic alternatives, including new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the Company," Man United said.

The process will mean assessing several initiatives, including stadium and infrastructure redevelopment as well as expanding commercial operations globally.

"Throughout this process we will remain fully focused on serving the best interests of our fans, shareholders, and various stakeholders," Executive co-Chairmen and Directors Avram Glazer and Joel Glazer said. That news comes after longtime fan discontent with ownership. MANU stock dipped slightly earlier after the club confirmed it was parting ways with star Cristiano Ronaldo after he gave a controversial interview. (2 comments)

Rails strike

The risk of a rail strike in December is growing after some unions voted down the deal that the White House brokered in September. Even a strike of just a few days could impact the supply of fuel, automobiles, chemicals, and consumer products, while a longer strike would have the potential to cut into Q4 GDP.

Evercore ISI analyst Jonathan Chappell warned that U.S. equities are acting like there is no chance of a strike when the probability is not zero. The firm's D.C. policy team still believes Congress will not act as quickly as hoped if the four unions that voted not to ratify the labor deal play hardball. Based on the performance of stocks tied closest to rail transport, investors expect the issue to be resolved without a strike. (37 comments)

Student loan pause

President Joe Biden said that he'll extend the pause on federal student loan payments while his administration defends in court his ability to cancel portions of student debt.

"I'm confident that our student debt relief plan is legal," he said. Last week, a U.S. appeals court kept in place a block on the plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt while six Republican-led states seek to stop the program on grounds that the White House's plan averts congressional authority.

While the case proceeds in court, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona will extend the payment pause to June 30, 2023, he said. Stocks that may be affected by the student loan forgiveness plan include: SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI), Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI), Nelnet (NYSE:NNI), and SLM Corp. (NASDAQ:SLM). (159 comments)

Ron Guerrier transcends his role as global chief information officer at HP, and takes pride in passing the baton to the younger generation of STEM innovators.

“I believe my job right now as a CIO is not just to deliver to the company objectives,” Guerrier proudly tells BLACK ENTERPRISE.

“It is to provide a voice and provide an opportunity to that next generation because they’re the ones who are going to change the world.”

With more than 25 years of experience managing technology, the Chicago-based trailblazer has been a Fortune 500 CIO for three of his five C-suite jobs. He is driven by his dignified Haitian roots and humble beginnings where he discovered the power of technology and innovation at an early age.

“In the absence of resources, you innovate,” Guerrier says. “And I say that is visiting family in Haiti or having cousins that live here in the projects of Chicago.”

“It’s amazing that when you don’t have much, you find ways to make things come together. I do remember working on my uncle’s car, and he had a Ford and we were putting Dodge parts in it and Chevy parts in it, because the lack of means, you find a way to kind of innovate.”

Growing up, Guerrier was a victim of gun violence and in foster care as a ward of the State of Illinois’ Department of Children & Family Services. These experiences galvanized a second life to champion for not only himself but for inner-city kids and beyond.

A hustler at heart, Guerrier’s ambition led him to repossessing cars in Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minnesota and later rising up the ranks at Toyota from an entry-level customer service rep to CIO.

“The thing that really propelled me at Toyota to go from the repossessions clerk and coordinator to the CIO in the 19 years I was at Toyota was I always volunteered for things,” Guerrier says. “When someone said, ‘We’re looking for these 10 skills,’ I always said, ‘Well, I know I can do six, I’ll learn the other four on the job.'”

“I always pushed myself and placed a bet on myself. And that helped me propel throughout technology opportunities. But that was the first moment where I realized that technology is an enabler.”

At HP, Guerrier is leading with value and community action. He takes great pride in a company that had a plan to amplify its commitments about social justice and racial equality during the nationwide civil unrest following George Floyd‘s death.

“I joined HP and I proudly wear their shirt, is when I met with Enrique [Lores], the CEO, and I saw the members of the board, it’s a diverse board, I was like, this organization is not just reacting to the murder of a man in Minnesota, as many did,” Guerrier says.

“But there was actually a history of them truly reaching out to other communities and diverse communities, but more importantly, really putting their money where their mouth is.”

With Guerrier’s help, HP is also active in building a diverse Black talent ecosystem and pipelines for hiring through its HBCU Business Challenge, HBCU Tech Conference, and more.

Throughout his career, Guerrier has supported numerous programs to drive digital equity education for the Black community at large, including late hip hop artist and entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle’s Vector90 youth STEM program.

In his previous role at Farmers Insurance Group, they gently used devices, laptops, and tablets to refurbish and donate them to Vector90, thanks to his non-profit STEM Advantage, which provides opportunities for young women in underserved communities.

Guerrier has worked with Homeboy Industries, a non-profit which provides tech training to former gang members. He led the program to teach them how to refurbish tech devices.

Before embarking on his HP journey, Guerrier worked for Governor JB Pritzker as the head of IT for the state of Illinois, a role that hit close to home. He was not only committing to digitizing the Department of Children and Family Services, but executing a broadband bill that extended throughout the state of Illinois.

Previously, Guerrier held a position as CIO at Express Scripts, the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit manager, and sponsored a company called Blacks in Technology and its BITCOIN conference.

“I was fortunate to be there and Nipsey was there, Senator Klobuchar from Minnesota was there. And it was just amazing to see, clearly my background, his background and the senator of Minnesota all in the room talking about how the importance of diversifying technology to all communities, but really, really being intentional on closing this digital divide,” Guerrier says.

Guerrier’s journey is a testament to all that he has accomplished leading up to this point in his life. For HBCU students and beyond, he strongly believes that IT training and certification pathways are essential to starting a career in tech, despite setbacks for Black at-risk youth and young adults, without a 4-year degree.

“I think there’s a fallacy that everyone has to go to a four-year college and then they get that great tech job,” Guerrier says.

“And so the beautiful thing about tech, back in the day when I was growing up in the nineties, you had to pretty much pay for every training. Nowadays, a lot of the big organizations such as Google, AWS, Microsoft, they provide free training and you just have to pay for the certification.”

For Guerrier, authenticity is key.

“See yourself as the CEO of your brand,” Guerrier advises.

Laptops can be pricey and bulky, but they certainly don’t have to be as this outrageously cheap Chromebook shows. 

The best laptops for students, for example, are usually much more lightweight machines. Laptops don’t get much more lightweight than Chromebooks, too, which run Chrome OS. Even better, they don’t need powerful components to get the most out of them, meaning they can be more affordable than standard computers.