Government to help axed HP workers

Scottish government will help the workers axed at Hewlett-Packard

Work is due to begin "immediately" to help the hundreds of people losing their jobs at computer firm Hewlett-Packard's factory in Scotland, it has been pledged.

Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney visited the factory in Erskine, Renfrewshire, to meet staff and management.

Hewlett-Packard announced that the work will be moved to the Czech Republic, with 710 workers at the Scottish plant losing their job.

The technology giant's "restructuring" will see 5,700 positions axed across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Staff consultations will begin next month and the redundancies are due to begin in 2010.

Mr Swinney said the decision is "extremely disappointing".

He added: "It is important we now look to the future and discuss what can be done to mitigate the impact, both on the local economy and for affected staff. That was the message from this morning's meeting."

Mr Swinney said the Scottish Government and its agencies Scottish Development International and Scottish Enterprise will "look for alternative business opportunities for the affected parts of the site".

And he promised: "We will start work immediately on helping each and every one of the staff who face losing their jobs."

He added: "Importantly, the company agreed this morning to cooperate in efforts to help find new job or retraining opportunities for staff affected by yesterday's announcement."