A missing British Ministry of Defence computer hard drive may contain personal details of as many as 1.7 million people who have inquired about joining the armed forces, it was revealed today.

LONG-TERM fears for multinational job security strengthened last night with the announcement by computer giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) that it expects to cut up to 133 jobs at its Irish operations over the next two years.

Computer giant Hewlett Packard announced tonight it is to axe 133 jobs in Ireland.

Hewlett Packard says it is too early to know whether any Irish jobs will be lost in world-wide cuts it is making to its workforce.

THE first successful pay claim since Saturday’s social-partnership collapse will see 5,000 workers in the motor trade receiving a 3% pay increase.

Wall Street rallied today as oil prices, supported by a stronger dollar, fall back and alleviate some of investors’ concerns about accelerating inflation.

There were fears today that oil giant Shell was preparing to shed around 3,200 jobs in the latest cost-cutting move by the industry.

Record results from BP helped the FTSE 100 Index creep even closer to the landmark 5000 barrier today.

TELECOMS firm EsatBT said its revenues rose by 25% in the six months to end September as more consumers and businesses switched their phone services to the British-owned firm.

Esat BT today announced a 25% increase in revenues from €138m to €173m in the half year to September 30 compared with the same period last year.

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB today filed a lawsuit against Electronic Data Systems over a scrapped contract to build and run a computer system for two UK call centres.

The Inland Revenue in the UK confirmed it had not renewed an IT deal worth £3bn(€4.2bn) with Electronic Data Systems(EDS).

European mobile operator Orange has signed an agreement with global services leader, EDS, to offer a set of managed mobility solutions to enterprise customers.

While there were strong gains early in the week, profit-taking after recent rallies and fears about upcoming earnings reports led to a fall in the major markets on Wednesday and Thursday.

The recent signing of a reseller, services and support agreement between global technology solutions provider Datalex and EDS has paid early dividends with the announcement of the first major contract win under this agreement with Loyalty Gate (formerly known as Qualiflyer Loyalty).

EDS Ireland has announced that it has completed stage two of an eight-year outsourcing contract with FLS Aerospace, which is valued at $3m (€3m) per year.

International Business Machines Corp said Electronic Data Systems Corp's problems are specific to EDS itself, a company spokeswoman said.

A new study conducted by A T Kearney, a subsidiary of EDS has revealed that only 29% of mobile users plan to upgrade their existing mobile phone service to a 3G network.

Computer services company EDS plans to reduce its workforce by 2,000, or 1.4% of its 140,000 staff.

Jaguar Racing and EDS have signed a technology sponsorship agreement through which EDS software will drive the digital design of Jaguar Racing's Formula One cars.

EDS Ireland has announced it has signed a new services contract with Marrakech.

EDS [NYSE:EDS]] has chosen SmartForce [Nasdaq:SMTF] to provide e-learning for the Navy Marine Corps Intranet project.