Shock departure of HP GM Alon Bar-Shany amid speculated business restructure

HP Indigo’s General Manager Alon Bar-Shany has announced his resignation after 25 years with the company, which is believed to be part of a re-organisation being carried out in the company, according to an article published by Israeli tech site calcalistech.com.

According to the article, it is speculated that Alon Bar-Shany was opposed to HP’s plan to layoff hundreds of employees in Israel.

“Over the past couple of years, Bar-Shany deflected two separate attempts by HP to downsize Indigo's workforce. The pressure grew this past October with the appointment of Enrique Lores as president and CEO of HP. Lores announced a reorganisation plan that will begin in 2020 and end in 2022 and which will include cutting the company's workforce by 7,000-9,000 employees,” stated the article, adding that:

“HP and Lores were in a dispute with Bar-Shany regarding the extent of the layoffs required in Israel. HP demanded that hundreds of workers would be let go while Bar-Shany only agreed to several dozen. Indigo's income is estimated to be in the region $1.7 billion and the company is believed to be profitable. As such, Bar-Shany felt that widescale cutbacks are unjust.”

Alon Bar-Shany will be replaced by former Vice President & General Manager Haim Levit, an Israeli who lives in the US and has held senior positions at the company for the past 15 years. It is believed that that HP’s cutback plan will begin in Israel in the coming weeks, since Haim Levit has a background in management rather than research and development.

The article went on to state that the reason for the restructuring is believed to be the stagnation in the company's sales (currently around $59 billion a year), and that HP plans to change its printer division, provide more services and thereby increase the price of its printers that can work with off-brand ink cartridges. In this way, the company hopes to increase its profits from the sale of hardware.

It is believed that HP did not announce Alon Bar-Shany's departure and that the news was only revealed by Calcalis Tech following a management meeting.

calcalistech.com says It is unclear whether Alon Bar-Shany's “left on his own volition or was essentially fired”.