Dell To Cut Thousands Of Jobs Amidst PC Demand Slump

Dell is to cut about 6,650 jobs, or roughly 5 percent of its workforce, as it faces plummetting demand for PCs.

Co-chief operating officer Jeff Clarke wrote in a memo to staff that the company was experiencing market conditions that “continue to erode with an uncertain future”.

Computer makers and vendors of online services and consumer electronics experienced a boom for two years during the pandemic, but this has turned into a slump in recent months as consumers and businesses cut spending amidst soaring inflation and interest rates.

In January 2022 IDC found PC sales during 2021 had reached their highest level since 2012, but shipments continued to drop through 2022 and again fell sharply in the fourth quarter.

Post-pandemic slump

The analyst firm said Dell saw the largest fourth-quarter decline amongst major PC makers, with a 37 percent drop compared to the same period a year earlier, according to preliminary figures.

Last week Gartner found PC sales declined 16 percent overall last year compared with 2021 and predicted a further drop of 6.8 percent in 2023.

Dell has significant exposure to the market, generating about 55 percent of its revenue from PCs.

Clarke said previous cost-cutting measures such as a hiring freeze and limits on travel were no longer enough.

‘We will be ready’

“We’ve navigated economic downturns before and we’ve emerged stronger,” wrote Clarke. “We will be ready when the market rebounds.”

Competitor HP in November announced it would cut up to 6,000 staff, while Cisco Systems and IBM have each said they plan to fire about 4,000 workers.

Facebook parent Meta, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet and other major tech companies have also announed thousands of layoffs each.

Matthew Broersma

Matt Broersma is a long standing tech freelance, who has worked for Ziff-Davis, ZDnet and other leading publications

Recent Posts

Marriott Agrees To Pay $52 Million To Settle Data Breaches

To settle US federal and state claims over multiple data breaches, Marriott International agrees $52…

2 days ago

Tesla Shares Drop After Cybercab Unveiling

Mixed reactions as Elon Musk hypes $30,000 'self driving' robotaxi called Cybercab, as well as…

2 days ago

AMD Launches New AI, Server Chips To Expand Nvidia Challenge

AMD unveils new AI and data centre chips as it seeks to improve challenge to…

3 days ago

Chinese Hackers Breach US Wiretap Systems – Report

AT&T and Verizon among US broadband providers reportedly hacked to target American government wiretapping platform

3 days ago