Dell Computers; Layoffs, Issues And More Layoffs

We’ll have to wait-and-see who these layoffs affect. But layoffs aren’t the only part that will impact American jobs, Dell forecasts a 20% rise in Asian sales and will use this to shift an even higher percentage of their growth to that region.

Any discussion of the announced layoffs, of approximately 8,800 staffers at Dell, invites commentary into a number of other issues that are impacting the company. Since these “other” issues impact who will be let go, they will be touched on below.

Lately companies have been trying to down play their layoff and offshoring activity, hidden at the bottom of Dell’s “End-to-End Transformation” section of their May 31, 2007 Press Release:

“…As a part of this overall effort, Dell will reduce headcount by approximately 10 percent over the next 12 months. The reductions will vary across geographic regions, customer segments, and functions,…”

As written about in Call Centers: The Best And The Worst, a CRM Lowdown survey of the ACSI ,The American Customer Service Index, listed Dell as the worst company in America for Customer Service. Poor customer service has become legendary at Dell with bloggers dedicating entire sites just to handle their poor service and product issues. The company has responded in a number of different ways including a one2one blog so that dissatisfied customers can discuss their problem directly with a Dell employee, not necessarily someone who has a script and strict rules to follow. They have also added a problem resolution link to their web site so several layers of the service bureaucracy can be bypassed. From the same Press Release:

“Improved customer satisfaction ratings through increased investment in technical support resources like Dell Support Center and DellConnect. These investments helped the company achieve a 66 percent decrease in the number of times customers are transferred before their issue or question is resolved.”

The accounting investigation has caused Dell not to file Form 10-Q for the last four quarters, Dell has requested four extensions from the SEC, but the last approval only gave them till July 16, 2007. This date is from their Press Release on July 3rd!

Also from Dell’s Press Release, the company to date has spent $46 million on this accounting investigation, there is little doubt that some of the layoffs will occur in the accounting department once the investigation concludes,

From an Associated Press article printed in the Greensboro News & Record:

“It wasn't supposed to work like this. Paying $280 million to lure a Dell plant was supposed to ensure high-tech jobs at the computer maker and at ancillary businesses it would attract. Instead, Dell's health has faltered and 8,000 jobs will be cut in the next year.”

Two more articles:
Layoff report at NETWORKWORLD
One in Ten Dell Employees To Be Laid Off