
HP bans T-shirts at work - gw5815
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/24/hp_dress_code/
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davidgerard
This is a reblog of a Register article, in which they _appear_ to have done
some actual journalism:

[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/24/hp_dress_code/](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/24/hp_dress_code/)

Nice story in the comments:
[http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2015/07/24/hp_dress_...](http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2015/07/24/hp_dress_code/)

> Years ago I was invited to visit HP by the head of a department there. I was
> interested in possibly selling a company to them, so on the appointed day I
> hopped up the coast for a look. The man had forgotten, and was out of town -
> I was shown round by an embarrassed group of his managers, said a polite
> thank-you, and left.

> I had parked facing outwards, as I usually do so I can see what's there when
> I leave. When I got back to my car there was a little sign on the windscreen
> saying "At HP we park facing inwards."

> That day, I learned everything I needed to know about HP, and soon after
> sold my company to one of their competitors (who fell about laughing when I
> told them this story.) The HP department in question was in due course
> closed, HP itself has lurched from one managerial disaster to the next, and
> here's one more buffoon with an MBA, putting one more nail into the coffin.

~~~
MichaelCrawford
I understand that when IBM visited Digital Research the head guy was out
flying his airplane. This left them with no operating system for the IBM-PC,
so Bill Gates licensed QDOS from a friend then licensed "Quick and Dirty
Operating System" to IBM as MS-DOS.

Eventually Microsoft exceedd its QDOS license so its dveloper sued, settling
for $50 million.

~~~
setpatchaddress
I've read that the Kildall-went-flying story is apocryphal.

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carterehsmith
Oh, HP... what your shareholders (and many others) expect from you is
"memristor", and what they get is no memristor, but a silly dress code for
employees. So sad.

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tw04
This reads like an instruction pamphlet on how to lose your best and
brightest. We need you to dress in arbitrary fashion X to prove we're
"professional". In other words, some uptight dickhead executive from large
customer Y complained about engineers in t-shirts. Here's a hint: the guys
that are willing to suffer through wearing a tie everyday aren't the guys you
want creating your product.

Then again, maybe those guys are already gone.

~~~
mkhpalm
This smells more like an old managerial trick. Make the place uncomfortable
enough that anybody who will leave, leaves on their own. If people take the
bait it makes the press release less sensational when the layoff numbers are
announced. It also solves the issue with severance packages and unemployment
benefits. Last but not least, there are less decisions that need to be made by
management.

All this suggests to me is that HP(s) will be announcing rounds of layoffs in
the not too distant future. The "reason" for the dress code is for the media,
investors, and employees to swallow. "No troubles here! Just some complaining
customers visiting the office."

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viraptor
Oh Register.. it must be a slow news day. Smart casual rule was already in all
contracts AFAIK. It's not a huge change, "slapping", or "banning".

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sitkack
Arbitrary fucking with employees who have mobility doesn't end well for the
organization.

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mkempe
Maybe the cluetrain manifesto needs another chapter.

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cmurf
Standard issue asininity.

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VOYD
HP is still around?

