this week, noting that it described current employment plans as "unaffordable given the pressures on our business." A noted that Lesjak had been a co-signer.

The memo said that in the tough July quarter, "we will be driving hard for revenue and profit." The two executive added: "We have absolutely no room for profitless revenue or any discretionary expenditures."

In February, the company released a forecast for second-quarter sales and profit that missed analysts' estimates, and H-P said the shortfall reflected slower demand for services and consumer products.

But the memo went several steps further, suggesting the pressure that exits for job reductions.

"This is a continuation of what we've seen recently from HP -- weakness on the top line, but better cost controls," Brian Marshall, an analyst at Gleacher & Co. in San Francisco, told Bloomberg.