Dell to Lay Off Over 6,600 Employees

Dell announced this morning that it will eliminate about 5 percent of its workforce of 133,000, meaning it will lay off about 6,650 employees. The PC maker is just the latest in a long line of technology companies cutting back during these challenging economic times.

“Market conditions continue to erode with an uncertain future,” Dell co-COO Jeff Clarke wrote in a memo to employees. “The steps we’ve taken to stay ahead of downturn impacts—which enabled several strong quarters in a row—are no longer enough. We now have to make additional decisions to prepare for the road ahead.”

As Clarke alluded to, Dell had previously taken steps to avoid layoffs. It paused external hiring, limited travel, and reduced its spending on outside services. But now it will make further “resets” to better structure the company for the future.

“Unfortunately, with changes like this, some members of our team will be leaving the company,”
he explained. “There is no tougher decision, but one we had to make for our long-term health and success. Please know we’ll support those impacted as they transition to their next opportunities.”

The PC industry suffered from a catastrophic fourth quarter, with PC sales plummeting 28.3 percent over the holidays. But Dell suffered the biggest fall of the top three PC makers, with unit sales falling 37.1 percent in the quarter to 10.8 million units. The firm sold 17.2 million units in the year-ago quarter.

And Dell is not alone in shrinking its workforce: Big Tech firms like Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Cisco, HP, IBM, Meta, and others are all laying off employees as well.