Dell to Lay Off Another 5,600, Close Plant

It wasn't that long ago that Dell was handing out pink slips. Now news from the PC manufacturer is pointing to another $3 billion in cutbacks. The good news (as far as Dell employees are concerned) is that the cutbacks aren't starting right away. Lynn Tyson, Dell's VP of investor relations, tackled the details on one of the company's blogs:
"Now this does not happen over night," explained Tyson, "In fact we said we believe it will take three years to achieve an annualized savings of $3 billion. This means that before you adjust for growth, we believe our costs at the end of our fiscal 2011 will be $3 billion lower than at the end of fiscal 2008."
Naturally, the big question is what/who is getting the boot. According to a company release Dell is planning on:
Closing a desktop manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas.
Cutting 5,600 jobs
Selling/spinning off Dell Financial Services
Lowering manufacturing materials and device component costs
From the looks of it, the market isn't phased by Dell's proposed fat-trimming, but we'll have to wait and see if the other shoe drops at the company's Equity Analyst Meeting tomorrow.

Dell to Layoff 900

Just heard that Dell is laying off 900 workers in Austin. Not sure what department(s) are getting hit. I'm sure we'll hear more soon.Update: North Austin Desktop PC plant to be closed by end of 2008. This is part of worldwide cutbacks at Dell. The work might be moved to a newer plant in North Carolina.

Dell to cut almost 900 jobs

By Erica Ogg, CNET News.comFriday, February 01 2008 10:42 AM

More changes are afoot at Dell. The Texas PC maker plans to shut down a Canadian call center and lay off almost 900 workers.

The Edmonton, Alberta, center in Canada will close during the second quarter to consolidate customer service operations. Most of the nearly 900 employees will receive pink slips, while some will be reassigned elsewhere in the company. In addition, Dell has decided not to open a second Canadian customer service center planned for Ottawa. In all, the company has 25 call centers worldwide.

The cuts "are part of the series of changes being made across the company globally to enhance the efficiency of our business", said Dell spokesman David Frink.

It's part of a plan Dell announced in May in which the company would reduce its workforce by nearly 10 percent, or about 8,800 jobs.

The world's second-largest PC maker said just a day earlier it would close all 140 of its U.S.
stores in favor of focusing on its new strategy of selling its products through retail outlets like Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Staples.

Local organizations offer help for laid off Dell workers

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Local organizations offer help for laid off Dell workers KPIC Roseburg, OR - (KPIC) Aug. 06, 2007. 02:47 PM EST Groups prepare to help displaced workers find new jobs

Dell plans 10 percent work force layoff

Dell plans 10 percent work force layoff

NEW YORK, NY, United States (UPI) -- Personal computer company Dell has announced plans for a 10 percent layoff of its work force over the next year.

The anticipated cuts, the company`s first since 2001, would affect about 8,800 people, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The announcement came from Michael Dell, founder and chief executive, who is trying to turn the company around. He said layoffs were difficult but, 'We know these actions are critical.'

In preliminary first-quarter earnings, Dell posted flat net income and 2.8 percent growth from a year earlier.

Michael Dell didn`t say how much the layoffs would save but one estimate set a figure of $600 million.

Job cuts coming to Dell soon?

Questions have been centering on the fate of Dell Inc.'s (NASDAQ:DELL) employee base in recent weeks, especially as the tales of the computer maker's recent struggles came into public view. It's true that Dell recognizes where it needs to improve, starting at the top with return of company founder Michael Dell and a slew of new executives to right the ship back to its former glory, if that is even possible.

But, with the rate of Dell employee growth having far outpaced sales growth in recent years, is the company ready for a reduction in its workforce? Maybe so -- as it's been over six years since a company wide layoff was in effect at Dell. By many measurements -- like operating expenses being 11.6% of sales recently -- Dell's employee ranks are overpopulated.

Is the PC maker ready to cut some employees? Like this BusinessWeek article mentions, the most likely departments to be cut would include marketing and accounting. Positions at sales and customer support are probably safer as the company definitely needs to keep selling and continue improving its level of support to customers, an area which has been a troublesome for quite some time.

Posted Mar 12th 2007 10:36AM by Brian White
Filed under: Rumors, Dell (DELL), Employees