As Twitter hires, HP fires

With the attention given to Twitter's IPO, one might assume that the tech industry is dependent on its success. It isn't. Not even close.

For sure, Twitter's initial public offering in November made some people awfully rich -- the social networking company's market capitalization now ranges near $35 billion and its shares trade at around $65 apiece, more than double the share price of Hewlett-Packard stock.

At best, though, Twitter is likely to remain a mid-sized employer unless it buys a television network with its eventual cash.

Computerworld - With the attention given to Twitter's IPO, one might assume that the tech industry is dependent on its success. It isn't. Not even close.

For sure, Twitter's initial public offering in November made some people awfully rich -- the social networking company's market capitalization now ranges near $35 billion and its shares trade at around $65 apiece, more than double the share price of Hewlett-Packard stock.

At best, though, Twitter is likely to remain a mid-sized employer unless it buys a television network with its eventual cash.

Twitter, according to its IPO filing, has about 2,000 employees, and a long list of job openings. Perhaps, in time, it may equal Facebook current workforce of 5,800.

As HP cuts, who is hiring?

Headcount data is from annual reports and represent global headcounts, unless otherwise noted. Few tech firms breakout domestic versus hiring overseas.Apple data does not include 3,100 full-time equivalent workers in 2008, 2,800 in 2010 and 4,100 in 2013. About 42,800 of Apple 2013 employees work in the company's Retail segment. Google 2012 figures include 12,433 from Motorola Mobile and 4,995 from Motorola Home. Google Sold Motorola Home in 2012, reducing its overall headcount. HP 2008 figures include its EDS acquisition. Microsoft data includes 35,000 international in 2010 and 41,000 international in 2013.

The point of showing the Twitter and Facebook employment numbers is to create scale for HP's just announced layoff of 5,000 workers. Relative to HP's total workforce of 317,000, the cut amounts to just 1.5%, but compared to the amount of hiring now underway at Web-based firms, it's a significant hit to tech employment overall.

The question now for HP is whether it can can adapt to overcome slowdowns in the PC, server and printer businesses and resume its revenue growth. If it succeeds at that, HP could add jobs by the thousands and at a speed that would take a Web-based firm years to achieve. On the other hand, it could also shed jobs by the thousands if it fails.

This latest HP layoff plan, detailed in a Security Exchange Commission filing last week, is on top of 29,000 job cuts previously announced by HP CEO Meg Whitman. HP doesn't breakout hiring/firing by region, so it's not known many U.S. workers are affected.

HP's importance to employment goes well beyond its own payroll.

There are thousands of HP-related jobs at resellers, consulting and professional services firms. Many IT professionals have invested careers in HP-specific technologies certifications and training, and HP systems can be found in most Fortune 1000 firms.

At this stage, analysts aren't predicting any specific long-term outcome for HP. They do see a company being hit by some significant changes in the use of devices ranging from PCs to tablets, and in data centers where users are moving more workloads to the cloud.

HP is "getting rid of redundant employees left over from acquisitions and shifting to more of a software focus and adjusting for market changes," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst, Enderle Group, citing printer sales in particular.

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For Political Candidates, All Twitter Publicity Is Good Publicity

More mentions on Twitter mean more votes for a candidate, whether the buzz is positive or negative.
Tweeting To Vote Screenshot via Twitter

Good news, Anthony Weiner? New research suggests that the more social media posts about a political figure, the greater the number of votes the candidate will get at the polls.

In politics, all Twitter publicity is good publicity, according to a study presented today at the American Sociological Association's annual meeting. The percentage of tweets mentioning Congressional candidates in 2010 and 2012 races correlated positively with the percentage of votes those candidates received, the researchers from Indiana University Bloomington found.

More Tweets, More Votes:  DiGrazia et. al

They analyzed 537 million tweets collected by IU's Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research, which has the largest sample of tweets in the world compiled for academic study, and found that more mentions of any kind on Twitter (either lauding or bashing the candidate) meant more votes, possibly because stronger candidates attract attention from both sides. "Specifically, individuals may be more likely to attack or discuss disliked candidates who are perceived as being strong or as having a high likelihood of winning," the researchers write. In other words, you tweet about the candidates that you think could win, whether that prospect delights or terrifies you. (How tweets about a candidate's really weird personal life play into this they do not say, though.)

The study determined that social media can be a reliable source of data about political behavior.

"Think of this as a measurement of buzz," one of the study's authors, sociologist Fabio Rojas, said in a press statement. "Even if you don't like somebody, you would only talk about them [SIC] if they're important."

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Hazy daze on Twitter

SINGAPORE - The skies are filled with smog, the PSI is off the charts and those precious N95 masks are sold out everywhere.

So what do bored Singaporeans do when they are stuck indoors? They tweet, of course — probably to the dismay of our friends at the Social Development Network.

Funny woman Michelle Chong shared photos of the view from her window and a view of her wall. Except, er, we can’t quite tell which is which.

If you squint hard enough, you’ll see other funny tweets floating around. Here are some of them.

***

CHUA ENLAI (@chuaenlai)

He says: I used to have neighbours. They have since disappeared from sight. #sghaze

We say: What did you say? We can’t read your tweet

ERVIN HAN (@ErvinHan)

He says: True love is easier to find than a N95 mask now. #sghaze

We say: One takes your breath away, one gives it back to you. So we’ll pick the masks anytime, thank you.

CHRIS (@CrispyEgg)

He says: I just burped into my N95 mask. Totally forgot about the potential backfire. #sghaze

We say: Argh.

SASHA TAN (@topsash)

She says: That awkward moment when your ex calls you from Sg to say the #sghaze is so bad, he’s dying, wants to die together and “you’re mine”.

We say: That escalated quickly.

SONGHUA (@songboh)

He says: I went to Watsons and asked the staff if they still have mask. She brought me to the shelf with all the facial masks -.-

We say: The haze is bad for skin too!

SO SINGAPORE (@SoSingaporean)

He/She says: #ReplaceMovieNamesWithHaze 500 Days of Haze #touchwood #sosingaporean

We say: #TOUCHWOOD #YOURHEAD.

ZOE SUGG (@zoellamyella)

She says: #ReplaceMovieNamesWithHaze Hazey Potter and the complaining singaporeans.

We say: Avada Kedavra, Hazey Potter!

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