Dell to cut workforce by 10%

Source: Technology Digital

Date :01/06/2007 09:10:09

Computer firm Dell has announced it is to cut its global workforce by ten percent, resulting in the loss of 7,000 jobs.

Struggling with falling sales and rising costs, founder Michael Dell took direct charge of the firm earlier this year.

Mr Dell said the job losses would be "difficult" but stressed they were critical if the firm was to deliver better value to customers.

The US company employs more than 78,700 staff worldwide.

In the face of falling PC costs and tough competition from the likes of a resurgent Hewlett Packard, Dell has experienced a number of difficulties.

In response, it has overhauled its management team and focused on improving technical support for customers and moving into fast-growing markets like China and Brazil.

It recently started selling PCs through Wal-Mart stores in the US.

Despite this, Dell said it needed to substantially reduce its workforce over the next year to remain competitive.

As well as the US, Dell has significant operations in both Europe and Asia.

It said the scale of the cutbacks would vary across each region depending on current trading, and general business and legal considerations.

At the same time as announcing the job cuts, Dell reported a jump in first-quarter profits to $947 million from $762 million for the same period last year.

June 1 2007