Dell can confirm that there will be job losses announced today for its Irish bases in Limerick and Cherrywood, but cannot at this time give any numbers. RTE News is reporting that 230 jobs in total are to go: 130 in Cherrywood, Dublin and the remaining 100 in Limerick.
This news follows plans in January of this year to cut 1,900 jobs in Dell’s Limerick plant, as its production unit was moved to Poland, leaving 1,000 non-manufacturing jobs behind.
Talks this morning with Dell employees in the EMEA region are the beginning of a 30-day consultation period, said a spokesperson for Dell, adding that the review of staffing levels follows the company’s announcement in January 2009 of plans to reduce its cost base by US$4bn by January 2011.
While the initial 1,900 jobs will be axed starting from next month, with all affected employees having left by 2010, this would mean an extra 230 job losses added to this.
Almost one year ago, on 29 April 2008, Dell’s Cherrywood plant in Dublin shed 250 permanent jobs as the company cited an “EMEA-wide re-organisation to improve competitive advantage and long-term profitability”.
With last year’s job losses, the recent 1,900 and now an extra 230 jobs to go from Limerick and Cherrywood combined, Dell’s Irish workforce will have dropped from 4,500 in 2008 to 2,120 by 2010.
By Marie Boran
