Dell to Cut Ireland Work Force Jan 9, 2009

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Dell Inc. said it will cut its Irish work force and shift its European manufacturing operations to Poland. Dell managers told its approximately 4300 Irish employees that 1900 of them — overwhelmingly assembly-line workers — would lose their jobs between April 2009 and January 2010. By then, the company said, it plans to have transferred the entire Irish production of laptops and desktop computers to a new Dell plant in Poland's third-largest city, Lodz — where labor costs are at least two-thirds lower than Dell's rates in Ireland — and to subcontractors chiefly in Asia.

"This is a difficult decision, but the right one for Dell to become even more competitive, and deliver greater value to customers," said Sean Corkery, vice president of Operations at Dell's major facility in Limerick, southwest Ireland.

Dell said the remaining 1100 Irish workers in Limerick would continue to coordinate manufacturing operations throughout Europe, and research and develop new products. Another 1300 employees at Dell's marketing and sales center for Europe, located in suburban Dublin, were not directly affected by the cuts. (AP)

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