The Week Ahead: July 18-22, 2005 - Forbes.com

The Week Ahead: July 18-22, 2005 - Forbes.comWhen to watch: Tuesday, July 19. The word on the street is that there's going to be some fine-tuning 'round Palo Alto way. OK, let's forsake the euphemisms: Media reports have suggested that the world's No. 2 computer maker, Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HWP - news - people ), is due to announce a restructuring next Tuesday, and they've cited analysts as saying HP might lay off thousands of workers. Scuttlebutts are placing the number of pink slips between 15,000 and 20,000, or around 10% of the company's workforce. HP insiders have intimated that the "layoffs are imminent--it's only a question of when," one analyst was quoted as saying in The New York Times. HP, which on July 14 declined to comment on the speculation, recently signaled that job cuts were likely in the current quarter. Indeed, Chief Executive Mark V. Hurd previously said HP had a cost structure that is "off benchmark in many areas" and that the company needed to symmetrize its costs with competitors such as Dell (nasdaq: DELL - news - people ), whose costs are lower. In May, 1,900 employees in HP's printing division accepted voluntary retirement. --Chris Noon