HP Cuts EDS Employees' Pay Up To 30 Percent

The latest salary cuts go far deeper than the ones HP made in April, when the Palo Alto, Calif.-based firm instituted a one-month, 10 percent pay cut for EDS workers in the U.S. and Puerto Rico with salaries in excess of $40,000. At the time, HP told EDS employees that no permanent salary cuts were being considered, The Dallas Morning News said.

Unsurprisingly, the affected employees aren't happy about the latest pay cut.

"I have been with EDS for almost 15 years, and the pride I once had in being a part of this organization has slowly and now surely become embarrassment and disgust," one Dallas-area worker wrote in an e-mail, according to the newspaper.

HP, which agreed to buy Plano, Texas-based EDS in May 2008, said the cuts are part of its efforts to integrate EDS' consulting business and to bring EDS salaries closer in line with similar HP positions.

"As part of the EDS integration process, a project was undertaken to ensure that employees in both EDS and HP, holding the same roles, receive comparable compensation based on market rates. While pay will not be impacted for the majority of employees as a result of this process, some employees will receive pay reductions while others will benefit from salary increases," HP said in a statement.

HP in February instituted across-the-board pay cuts of between 2.5 percent and 20 percent after a disappointing fiscal first-quarter performance.