Dell drops the bomb on Limerick
And so it has come to pass: "Dell to cut 1,900 jobs at Limerick operation". This is horrific news for the region, and it comes at a time when the country is in the grip of a severe cold spell. Misery upon misery. But Limerick's loss is Lódz's gain. Dell's Polish manufacturing facility is located in a Central European IT market that is expected to grow by 13.9 per cent annually during the next five years. The Limerick Blogger is on the story and the Polish aspect surfaces in the comments:
"Once again they display themselves to be the true pack of money grabbing rat bastards that they are. Fuck off now Dell and take your new polish workforce with you. Its time for this country to start looking after its own. And if you are from Limerick and are even contemplating giving these cunts a cent of your money for their products again, you should be fucking ashamed of yourself." Kevin D
"Sounds Like Kevin D lost his Job.... Those are his views I do not share them. I work with two of the most dedicated Polish girls I have ever seen and they Put us lazy Oirish louts to Shame... Poland is not to Blame remember its the fat cats at the top are to Blame!!! Its all in the nature of the Beast, today Poland tomorrow The Philipines or Tobago.. where ever there is cheap labor the fat cats will get fatter!! Go to the Pub Kevin D and down a few if you want to hit a pole try an ESB one maybe it will knock a bit of sense ito you. Mise le meas an Calin Dana... oiche maith." Calin Dana
But regardless of whether it is in Limerick or Lódz, the PC building business is in terrible trouble and the long-term outlook for Dell is grim. That's no comfort for Limerick's new jobless, though.
Comments
The PC industry is in trouble.
The problem is that most PCs in both homes and businesses are "good enough".
Moving from a 1.8GHz CPU to one running at 2.4GHz does not bring noticeable benefits.
You get zero benefit when moving from a 200GB drive to a 500GB one if you are only using 130GB today.
A larger monitor does, but that does not require (most of the time) a new machine.
A faster connection brings noticeable benefit, but that connection speed is NOT controlled by Dell and its manufacturing brethren.
The industry needs a killer application that will suck up cycles and storage.
Posted by: Dave Barnes | January 9, 2009 12:08 AM
No proposals made to Dell about keeping Irish jobs
Sunday, January 04, 2009 By Gavin Daly SBPost
Dell has not received any proposals about keeping manufacturing jobs in Limerick, and large-scale layoffs are expected to be announced as early as this week.
While reports last week said that a group of Irish business people were in contact with the US computer maker in a bid to save jobs, The Sunday Business Post understands no proposal has been put to the company. An announcement on the future of the Limerick manufacturing operation, which is expected to lead to up to 2,000 job losses, is now imminent.
However, company founder and chief executive Michael Dell has no plans to travel to Ireland and the announcement is likely to be made by local Dell management. Dell has been reviewing its manufacturing operations for several months in a bid to cut costs, and sources said the situation was ‘‘building to a head of steam’’ in the coming days. The company is expected to outsource manufacturing from Limerick to factories in eastern Europe and Asia, although it will retain non-manufacturing jobs in Limerick and Dublin.
It is understood that the government and IDA Ireland are in contact with the firm about building up its research and development and other functions in Ireland. Dell’s original model of building computers to order has come under pressure from lower-cost competitors and the firm last week reorganised its business around particular consumer segments, rather than on a geographical basis. Michael Dell said the firm was moving ‘‘from a global business that’s run regionally to businesses that are really globally organised’’.
The firm also said that Mike Cannon, its president of global operations, would leave the company on January 31.Cannon was hired to lead the review of Dell’s manufacturing and distribution and the company said he had made ‘‘many contributions to transforming the company’s supply chain and improving its cost competitiveness’’.
Posted by: Henry Barth | January 10, 2009 5:36 PM