Hewlett-Packard to employees: Take a vacation, we can't afford you

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) seems like an awfully nice company. It is extending its holiday vacation period from one week to two. Think of all the time that its workers can spend going to the beach, skiing, or spending time in the bosoms of their families.

Of, course, big companies are never that nice without a motive. HP figures it can save money by being shut an extra week. According to The Wall Street Journal, The Palo Alto, Calif., tech giant notified employees last week that it would extend its normal weeklong holiday shutdown to two weeks to "achieve significant operational savings."

The move may save some expense, but it is also short-sighted. HP has the capital to stay open for the latter part of December and its has a chance to use that time to continue R&D, product development, sales and marketing. Working on its line of hardware and software and reaching out to customers during a period when it is trying to keep revenue up is more important than saving part of one week's costs.

As the recession takes hold, market share will become critical to keep up revenue. HP will be locked in competition for a shrinking revenue pie as companies like IBM (NYSE: IBM) try to take away business.

Given how bad the tech landscape is, HP should keep some of its people working straight through the holidays right up to the end of the year.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.