This article is from page 9 of the 2007-06-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
CONCERNS have been expressed that the announcement by Dell of a global reduction in jobs could have far reaching consequences for the economy of the Midwest.
As well as the 3,000 jobs created directly by Dell in Limerick, a fur- ther 20,000 reliant on the success of the company in the Midwest region remain under threat.
Thousands of jobs in sub-supply companies throughout the Midwest are reliant on Dell business for sur- vival.
The expectation that 450 Dell jobs in Ireland are to go within 12 months has sent shock waves through the business community in the Shannon Kosta (eye
The Chief Executive of the Cham- ber of Commerce in Limerick, Maria Kelly, has said the announcement by Dell of a global reduction in jobs is a cause for concern in Limerick and the wider Midwest region.
She said some sort of announcement was expected from Dell to realign its global business after it was overtaken as the number one PC manufacturer in the world by Hewlett Packard.
It is anticipated that some cuts are
likely to be achieved by leaving po- sitions vacant and voluntary redun- CP bates tee
The company also employs 1,500 people in Cherrywood in South, County Dublin.
Dell is expected to cut its Irish workforce by up to 450 over the coming 12 months as part of a global drive to cut costs.
Last week, the company announced that it is to shed 8,800 jobs world- wide, amounting to about 10 per cent of its global workforce.
In a statement, the company’s Chief Executive, Michael Dell, said the re- dundancies would be across all re- gions and departments.
However, the company stressed that no final decision had been made on the number of job losses in Ireland.
The company will open a second factory in Europe this autumn at Lodz in Poland. Dell has stated that the Lodz facility is being opened to complement existing operations in Limerick. Dell’s second European factory, at Lodz in Poland, will open this autumn.
The company has always main- tained that facility would comple- ment the Limerick operation rather than replace it.