Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) Galway operation has spent more than €2 million on exit packages for staff since announcing a large hiring drive in 2023.
The US-headquartered IT company said in October 2023 it planned to create 150 new roles at its cloud computing research and development facility in Galway.
The announcement about extra roles at HPE’s Galway operation came two years after it previously announced 150 additional jobs at the Galway office.
Former minister for enterprise Simon Coveney said at the time the announcement was a “fresh vote of confidence” in Galway by the company. HPE chief technology officer Fidelma Russo said there was potential for the firm to expand its presence in Galway even further in the coming years.
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New financial filings for Hewlett-Packard Galway Limited show it has spent $2.3 million (€2 million) on redundancy payments to staff since announcing plans to significantly expand the Galway office.
The company’s accounts for the year that ended October 2023 said the average monthly number of staff at the company was 309 in the period.
Staff numbers rose to 374 during the following year, but new accounts for the 12-month period to the end of October 2025 show staff levels fell to 340.
Commenting on the figures, a spokesperson for Hewlett Packard Enterprise said: “Galway continues to be a thriving hub for HPE. Research and development activity at the site has expanded significantly and it is a centre of excellence for HPE’s hybrid cloud business.
“We have met our previously stated hiring target at the Galway site. Overall staffing levels fluctuate regularly due to ongoing retirements, attrition, and business optimisation.”
The vast majority of redundancy payments were made by Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Galway unit last year. The previous year, it spent €71,000 ($81,000). In 2023, total outlay on exit packages was €202,000.
In the most recent financial year, total salaries paid to staff at the Galway operation fell from $37 million to $35 million. Revenues at the firm declined from $69 million to $64.2 million and operating profits fell 5 per cent to $13.1 million.
Further accounts for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Ireland Limited, the Galway firm’s parent company, show it also spent €1 million on staff exit packages in the same financial year as its headcount fell from 138 to 133.
Despite the decline in headcount, total salaries paid to staff rose from €13.1 million to €14.3 million.
The parent firm’s accounts, which do not reflect the activity of the Galway operation, show its turnover rose from €86.6 million to €91.6 million.
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Operating profit rose significantly from €1.3 million to €22.6 million, which was linked to the receipt of a $25 million (€21.9 million) dividend from the Galway office.
HPE’s main Irish subsidiary has routinely spent six- and seven-figure sums on redundancy payments on an annual basis. Since 2016, it has spent a combined €21.3 million on exit packages for staff as it reduced its headcount from 461 to 133.
Personal computer maker HP Inc and HPE are two separate entities. They were established when Hewlett-Packard split up the group in 2015.
In March 2025, HPE chief executive Antonio Neri said the company planned to let go 3,000 workers globally.
The firm said the company’s profits for 2025 faced a shock over US-imposed tariffs and weak margins on server sales. The firm forecast the exit packages would cost close to $350 million over two years.
