Dell Denies Reports Of Staff Cuts

Computer manufacturer Dell, has denied the reports that it is going to cut its global workforce even more harshly than had previously been thought, with news circulating that predicts as many as 15,000 employees are going to cease working for the company.  Since a refinance deal, which moved the company off the stock market last year, company restructuring is widely rumoured and redundancies are actually being put into place this week.  Amid reports of these widespread cuts, Dell has maintained a stance, saying that they will only affect “a small percentage” of workers who are accepting voluntary redundancy packages.

The redundancy packages, allegedly consist of two months’ wages plus a week of pay for each year of service and a bonus at 75%.  Employees in the United States will receive 18 months of health insurance benefit, as well as assistance in finding new employment.  The company is rumoured to be completely restructuring with mergers and simplifications happening all over the place.

The PC industry is suffering in the face of increased competition from tablets and smartphones, with worldwide sales falling by as much as 10 percent last year. That having been said, recent statistics showed Dell still has a strong position in the worldwide PC market, they have an 11.8 percent global market share, behind Lenovo and HP.

CEO and Co-founder, Michael Dell, completed a $24.9 billion (£15.5bn) buyout of the firm, after a takeover battle last year, thereby taking the company private and away from Wall Street.  “Privatisation has created a renewed sense of excitement about Dell,” Dell told attendees at Dell World 2013 last December. “I feel like I’m part of the world’s largest startup.”

This address also stated that his takeover could mean the company would once again look at making long-term investments, both in terms of Research & Development and acquisitions, by setting up the $300 million Dell Venture Fund, which looks into investing in early to growth stage companies.  Dell employees have felt suspicious when their company also announced it was aiming to get half of its workforce working remotely at least part of the time by 2020 as part of its “2020 Legacy of Good” plan, which officials said will reduce expenses, whilst also helping out the environment.

“We want to reiterate that the speculative work force reduction number and percentage regarding Dell reported by some media is wildly inaccurate. We have taken steps to optimize our business, streamline operations and improve our efficiency over the past few years.” A Dell spokesperson said in an interview to TechweekEurope.  “I can confirm that a very small percentage of Dell’s global team members accepted the company’s recent offer of a significant severance package associated with our voluntary separation program. Meanwhile, Dell is hiring in strategic areas of our business including hardware and software development, engineering and customer coverage worldwide. Like any prudent business, we’ll continue to review our operations in an effort to remain competitive and determine how to best serve customers.”

[Image via wikipedia]

SOURCE: http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/reports-say-dell-cutting-fifteen-thousand-workers-worldwide-138104