About half the layoffs are expected to come from the US whilethe rest of the layoffs will be divvied up among combinedcompanies' operations in the rest of the world. The severancepackage will include a parting check, counseling and job placementservices. HP expects to replace roughly half of these positionsover the next three years "to create a global work force that hasthe right blend of services delivery capabilities to address thediversity of its markets and customers worldwide."

With its $13.9-billion acquisition of EDS, HP believes it hasthe industry's most comprehensive portfolio of IT solutions at atime when enterprises are facing "an explosion of digital content,aging infrastructure and constrained resources" that will havecompanies reassessing their technology needs and whether they willmanage things in-house or outsource. HP wants to assist companiesin making decisions in this regard and be able to sell themsomething regardless of which decision they make. HP estimates thatits acquisition of EDS boosts it share of the IT services market to7%, putting it second only to IBM, which has an estimated 10%share.

As part of the integration, HP said it plans to restructure theEDS business group to streamline costs, invest in growth and driveshareholder value. HP says it has identified synergies in corporateoverhead functions, such as real estate, IT and procurement.