The layoffs were caused by her poor business acquisitions/decisions! It took HP years to recover from her "leadership".
I believe she acquired Electronic Data Systems (EDS) (founded by Ross Perot) while at HP. I had the misfortune to be "outsourced" to EDS, along with the entire IT branch at Nextel and I worked there for several years. I found EDS to be, by far, the worst managed company I could ever imagine.
Therefore, I have to agree with you on this point.