HPE becomes the latest tech firm to leave Silicon Valley

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is upping sticks from its base in San Jose to a new headquarters in Houston as it becomes the latest company to leave from Silicon Valley.

The company said in its fourth-quarter earnings release that Houston is the company’s largest “employment hub” in the US and “is an attractive market to recruit and retain future diverse talent and is where the company is currently constructing a state-of-the-art new campus”.

The company currently has offices in Austin, Plano and Houston, with 2,600 employees already in the Texas area. HPE currently has major product development, services, manufacturing and lab facilities in both Houston and Austin.

It is not currently known how many employees will be affected by the move of if there will be any redundancies. The new campus is set to open in early 2022.

"As we look to the future, our business needs, opportunities for cost savings, and team members' preferences about the future of work, we are excited to relocate HPE's headquarters to the Houston region," said Antonio Neri, the company's CEO.

“Houston is an attractive market to recruit and retain future diverse talent and where we are currently constructing a state-of-the-art new campus. We look forward to continuing to expand our strong presence in the market.”

The move won’t be the end for the San Jose campus; HPE is expected to consolidate some of its sites in the Bay Area to that location.

In its fourth quarter, HPE reported earnings of $157 million. For the year, the company reported a loss of $322 million.