Dell to cut 1,900 Irish jobs

08-01-2009

by Deirdre McArdle

After many months of rumours and worry about Dell's Limerick facility, it's been announced that the PC maker is to cut approximately 1,900 jobs.

The cuts come as Dell moves its manufacturing function to its Polish facility in Lodz and to other third-party manufacturing partners. The redundancies will start in April 2009 with the full transfer of the manufacturing facilities to be completed by January 2010.

The move is part of a USD3 billion cost-cutting initiative Dell announced last year, as it reviews its global supply chain. In all, Dell employs some 3,000 people at its Limerick base. The remaining 1,100 employees will continue to coordinate EMEA manufacturing, logistics and supply chain activities across a range of functions including product development, engineering, procurement and logistics. The company's Global Innovation Solutions Centre and EMEA Command Centre will remain in Limerick. Meanwhile, Dell will maintain its sales, marketing and support facility in Cherrywood, Dublin, where it employs 1,500 people.

Dell has been based in Limerick since 1990. It is the country's largest exporter and accounts for around 5 percent of Irish GDP. To say the decision is a devastating blow for Limerick is an understatement; estimates suggest that as many as 10,000 ancillary jobs are indirectly linked to Dell's manufacturing facility in the county.

Ireland's economy, already struggling, will no doubt feel the reverberations of the decision too. In an indication of just how important Dell is to the country, the Cabinet on Wednesday discussed the anticipated news, and both the Tanaiste Mary Coughlan and Defence Minister Willie O'Dea, a Limerick TD, flew to the US a couple of weeks ago to attempt to convince Michael Dell to maintain the facility in Limerick -- but to no avail.

In a statement, Sean Corkery, vice president of Dell operations in EMEA, said: "We are proud of our 18-year tenure as a major manufacturer in Ireland. This is a difficult decision, but the right one for Dell to become even more competitive, and deliver greater value to customers in the region."