The Channel Wire

January 08, 2009

Dell plans to lay off 1,900 workers at its flagship manufacturing plant in Limerick, Ireland, and transfer production to an existing facility in Poland and to third-party OEM partners, according to Dell. The move is part of a $3 billion cost reduction plan Dell announced last year. Dell has had its Ireland operations for 18 years.

"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," said Sean Corkery, vice president of operations, EMEA, in a statement.

An initial layoff will occur in April and the full transition is expected to be completed by January 2010, according to Dell. The company's Global Innovation Solutions Center and EMEA Command Center will remain in Limerick and Dell will keep sales, marketing and support personnel in Dublin.

Dell is undergoing a major corporate restructuring around three new customer segments—Enterprise, Public and SMB—and last month the company said its president of operations, Mike Cannon, will retire as of Jan. 31., and its chief marketing officer, Mark Jarvis, would leave in the first quarter.

Dell's stock closed at $11.15 per share on Wednesday.