Dell office sign
Dell has become the latest major tech company to confirm it will be laying off employees, with 6,650 jobs expected to be cut as PC sales continue to fall.
The list of layoffs at tech companies has grown after Dell confirmed on Monday that it will also be cutting headcount. The PC maker is expected to create over 6,000 jobs in the next few months.
In a memo to employees released and posted on Dell’s website, co-CEO Jeff Clark writes that the company has previously suspended external hiring, restricted travel, and reduced its external service spending to “address the challenges of the global economic environment.” and uncertainty ahead. Believing that “market conditions continue to worsen due to the uncertain future,” Clarke says the company needs to do more to “prepare for the future.”
Total “traditional PC” shipments for the 2022 holiday quarter were down 28.1%, with Dell down 37.2%, according to IDC in January. Instead of shipping 21.6 million PCs, Dell only managed to sell 15.5 million in the quarter.
By contrast, Apple shipments were down just 2.1%, from 7.7 million to 7.5 million.
The list of changes includes “some reboots” across the company, including aligning regional sales and Dell Technologies Select teams for consistency, integrating various service teams, and changing resources with ISG engineering teams.
“Unfortunately, with these changes, some members of our team will leave the company,” acknowledges Clark. “There is no tougher decision, but we had to make it for our long-term health and success.”
The language of the memorandum on job cuts makes layoffs easier than they really are. Dell will cut 6,650 jobs, representing 5% of the global workforce, according to Bloomberg.
Job cuts would theoretically reduce Dell’s staff to 126.3 thousand employees, the lowest figure in six years.
Dell’s confirmation of job losses followed similar announcements by Microsoft and Google in January that they would cut 10,000 and 12,000 employees, respectively. In November, Meta warned it was cutting 11,000 jobs.
As for Apple, it has managed to avoid most layoff problems by hiring much more slowly than its competitors, although it is also expected to cut headcount simply by cutting hiring. Apple allowed some employees to work with non-seasonal workers in retail channels outside of the Apple Store, but not to a significant level.