Sales of printers and printing supplies fell last quarter. Photo by Mike Rogoway/The Oregonian

HP furloughed dozens of contract employees at its Corvallis printer supply factory for the last two weeks of July. The company appears to be responding to a slowdown in demand.

Another furlough is coming in September, according to a person with direct knowledge of HP’s plans, but it’s not clear if that will affect as many workers as this month’s.

Many of the people working in HP’s Corvallis factory are contract employees hired through staffing firms. HP furloughed at least several dozen contract employees for the last two weeks of the month, according to some workers, who say the total number affected may have been as high as a few hundred.

Furlough notices sent to the workers indicate they were out of work from July 18 through July 29. The next two-week furlough begins September 12 and runs through September 23 but may not affect every worker who was out this month.

HP didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

HP’s Corvallis campus is home to both research and manufacturing. It’s where the company – then known as Hewlett-Packard – invented the inkjet printer in 1984. Printer sales have been dwindling for many years, and HP substantially downsized its Oregon operations in the years after the dot-com bust.

Printer demand surged early in the pandemic, though, as people stocked up on office equipment during a shift to remote work. That proved to be a temporary boost; HP said last month that printer revenue was down 7% in its second quarter and sales of supplies were down 6%.

Oregon has recorded very few layoffs since the pandemic recession ended. The jobless rate is near a record low, 3.6%, and the number of job vacancies in the state considerably outnumbers the number of people looking for work.

Oregon technology employment is at an all-time high, too, reflecting sustained growth at big tech companies that have outposts in the Silicon Forest.

This summer, though, there have been growing signs of unease among major technology employers amid concerns that soaring inflation and market disruptions in China, Ukraine and Russia may trigger a global recession.

Intel, for example, issued dismal second-quarter financial results Thursday and warned of a steep drop in 2022 revenue. The company blamed a weakening global economy for most of its woes and said it will slow hiring and reduce capital.

This article has been updated with information about pending furloughs in September.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | Twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699

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