Hewlett-Packard (HP) has a long history of being good to its staff, and they feel loyal despite a proposed merger. The world's second largest computer manufacturer was founded in 1939 by David Packard and William Hewlett, in a garage in California. It expanded to Britain in 1961. Hewlett and Packard pioneered openness, respect for workers and high ethical standards — 30 years ago, they introduced flexible working and uniform bonuses. Home working was introduced in 1994. However, the firm was hit by a 38% drop in its share price last year after it announced a merger with Compaq, which was awaiting US competition authority and shareholder approval at the time of going to press. Difficult economic times had already resulted in worldwide redundancies, including more than 500 in the UK. Nine in 10 staff said management showed appreciation for good work, four in five thought they were fairly paid, and 96% said they could take time off when needed. The firm aims to give staff the freedom to work towards their goals, and calls this “the HP way”. It says that “people are at the heart of HP”, and it remains to be seen how the potential merger with another people-friendly firm (see Compaq, overleaf) might affect it.