Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. —a descendant of the firm that Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard famously started in their Palo Alto, Calif., garage—is moving its headquarters to the Houston area, the latest sign of how the pandemic is reshaping the way Silicon Valley companies operate.
The move won’t result in any layoffs, company officials said, adding that it expects several hundred nontechnical jobs could transfer to the campus under construction in Spring, Texas, just outside of Houston. The relocation, expected to happen by 2022, would be voluntary, company officials said.
The Bay Area would remain a strategic hub and several sites in the area would be consolidated with its San Jose, Calif., campus, which would become the new headquarters for HPE’s Aruba Intelligent Edge business, the company said.
Chief Executive Antonio Neri said the move was part of a reassessment of where and how HPE works, in part tied to the pandemic. “We’ve listened to our team members, who have told us they want to spend less time at a physical work site,” he said. “And in response to this new future of work, we have re-evaluated our real-estate site strategy.”
“Houston is also an attractive market for us to recruit and retain talent, and a great place to do business,” Mr. Neri said, adding that as one of the largest and most diverse cities in the country, “Houston provides the opportunity over time to draw more diverse talent into our ranks.”
