Dell Denies Plans To Cut 15,000 Staff

PC manufacturer Dell has denied reports that it is about to cut its global workforce even harder than had been thought, with predicting as many as 15,000 employees are set to leave the company.

Since a refinancing that took the company off the stock market last year,. restructuring has been on the cards, and redundancies begin this week. Amid reports of a “bloodbath”, Dell has maintained that the cuts will only affect “a small percentage” of workers who are accepting voluntary redundancy packages.

These packages, reportedly, consist of two months’ wages plus an extra week of pay for each year of service, and a bonus at 75 per cent. Employees in the US will receive 18 months of health insurance, as well as help finding a new job.  The company is being completely restructured with units merging and structures simplified. 

Major restructuring

Although recent statistics showed Dell still has a strong position in the worldwide PC market, placing third behind Lenovo and HP for an 11.8 percent global market share, 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.

Co-founder and CEO Michael Dell (pictured) completed a $24.9 billion (£15.5bn) buyout of the company after a protracted takeover battle last year, taking the company private and away from the attentions of 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.”

His address also mentioned that his takeover would mean the company could once again look at making long-term investments, both in terms of R&D and acquisitions, setting up the $300 million Dell Venture Fund, which looks at investing in early to growth stage companies.

Dell employees may have felt slightly 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 the vendor’s expenses while helping out the environment.

In a statement to TechWeek Europe, a Dell spokesperson shed little light on the situation, stating, “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.”

“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.”

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