Dell makes cuts at N.C. plant, elsewhere

Dell makes cuts at N.C. plant, elsewhere


Two weeks after Dell Inc. officials promised to reduce operating expenses after posting a sharp decline in fourth-quarter earnings, the company is confirming an undisclosed number of job cuts at a North Carolina assembly plant and other Dell locations.
However, company spokesman David Frink declined to say where the remaining job cuts are occurring nor the total number of layoffs.
“It’s part of our ongoing initiative to remain competitive by enhancing our efficiency and underlying cost structure,” he said. “Workforce reduction is difficult, a prudent and deliberate part of Dell’s ongoing focus on competitiveness.”
Dell reportedly employs more than 1,100 workers at the $115 million plant in Winston-Salem, N.C., that opened in 2005 with $318 million in state and local incentives. North Carolina TV station WXII-TV Channel 12 is reporting that 300 workers were laid off.
In late February, Round Rock-based Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) reported that fourth-quarter profit declined 48 percent. Its quarterly earnings slid to $351 million, or 18 cents a share, on $13.4 billion in revenue, compared with earnings of $679 million, or 31 cents a share, on nearly $16 billion in revenue a year ago.
At that time, company officials said they would cut more than $1 billion in annual operating costs during the next two years. The company cut 9,400 jobs during the last fiscal year and closed a manufacturing plant in Ireland.
Dell, the second-largest maker of personal computers, was founded in 1984.