Dell to close US plant, lay off 905

[OhioChick]

Source: Economic Times of India

8 Oct 2009, 0105 hrs IST, AGENCIES

ROUND ROCK: Dell Inc. said on Wednesday it will close a desktop computer manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, by the end of January.

The computer maker said 905 people will be laid off, with around 600 to be let go next month. The plant was opened in 2005.

Dell was promised more than $300 million in state and local incentives to open the plant. But it was required to invest $100 million, create 1,700 jobs by September 2010 and maintain those jobs for 10 more years. If those terms weren't met, the company would forfeit the incentive package.

Dell said it would comply with the terms of the incentive agreement.

The plant closure is part of a plan to save $4 billion a year at Dell by 2011.



Read more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5099595.cms

---

Keep in mind....the recession is over.

[napi21]

1. The ONE reason I didn't even consider a Dell when I bought

my new desktop was their reputation for having lousy customer service people who don't speak understandable english! Too damn bad they seem to be persuing that same avenue!

[phasma ex machina]

7. +1 regarding lousy customer service but a crying shame about the layoffs tho nt

[NeoConsSuck]

2. Yes, the recession is over!

Alcoa reported profits after the closing bell on Wall Street. Unfortunately (at least to working stiffs, but not to Wall Street), the profits were generated by 19,000 job cuts in June. Hip Hip Hurray! Ponies and cherry pie for Alcoa stock holders.

But back to the Dell story. Has American media stopped reporting major job losses? We need to go to the India Times to get these stories? Nothing at Bloomberg or Yahoo finance about this.

[high density]

3. here ya go

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Changing-focus-leads-Dell-to-apf-162802495.html?x=0&.v=9

;)

[AllentownJake]

4. Got some good analysis on Alcoa

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1495-Alcoa-Kicks-It-Off-AA.html

Essentially commodity price increases, increased their sales not demand for more raw materials.

[NeoConsSuck]

6. I see that

from Bloomberg:

Net income fell to $77 million, or 8 cents a share, from $268 million, or 33 cents, a year earlier, Alcoa said today in a statement. Sales dropped 34 percent to $4.62 billion.

Alcoa, which posted losses in the past three quarters, cut 19,000 jobs since June 2008 as the global recession depressed demand and prices for aluminum.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apPlNuQjLicM

[AllentownJake]

5. Nothing to see here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49jKeGyUCJE

[onehandle]

8. Michael Dell is a huge Republican Ass. nt

[WriteDown]

9. And therefore....

these 905 people DESERVE to lose their jobs!

:eyes:

[No Elephants]

30. No--905 people are losing their jobs BECAUSE Dell is a huge Republican ass.

The only Republicans that are huger asses than the likes of Dell are Republicans who are not rich. They are huge asses who are incredibly dumb, aka huge dumbasses.

That was some spin on onehandle's post, though. Very creative. Kudos.

[WriteDown]

35. Dell will wise up and move their plant to China now....

like Apple.

[mbperrin]

38. Did that, 1998.

http://news.cnet.com/Dell-to-open-Chinese-plant/2100-1001_3-208466.html

February 24, 1998 6:15 PM PST
Dell to open Chinese plant
By Jim Hu
Staff Writer, CNET News

China's government has given Dell Computer (DELL) the go-ahead to expand its Asian operations.
Dell's planned 135,000 square-foot facility in the southeastern city of Xiamen will serve as a sales and technical support center and a production facility, modeled along the lines of its customer center in Panang, Malaysia. While Dell currently has sales offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, the new Xiamen facility will give the company a manufacturing presence in Asia's second-largest market.
The China Customer Center will produce the entire range of Dell products, and employ some 200 people. Notebook, desktop, and server computers will be sold into China's rapidly growing market.

[WriteDown]

39. Apparently they didn't learn their lesson.

:)

[Confusious]

11. And his computers are huge republican ass too.

$50 for a power supply that keeps Fing up, and a chip in it so you can't use a generic one.

Republican capitalism.

[No Elephants]

29. So different when they started. I still have a 1990 Dell. It never broke and it still works.

CPU, keyboard, monitor, mouse. All original, all working perfectly.

I've used laptops for years, but I've just never thrown it out. I understand there's a market for antique computers, too. Maybe I'll sell it soon?

Customer service was great in 1990, too. In fact, that's why I bought Dell then.

Good times.

[defendandprotect]

19. Really dislike Dell and their products -- and especially their "service" -- !!

[Irreverend IX]

10. Dude, you're getting a pink slip! nt

[2Design]

12. States don't learn - giving this souless corporations tax incentives just hurt the state

they do it in every state they go to - they do not care about americans, only their money and most of us have whiz up enough to not buy a Dell computer

[scarface2004]

13. now that everyone has an acer computer....

dell can close!!

[Mira]

14. I live in Winston-Salem, and I got a breaking news alert to this event

from my local newspaper.
It will hit hard in this city tomorrow when it becomes public knowledge. It will even affect my bottom line, a company that works in tandem with Dell and will cease to exist because they are their only customer is my client.

[KoKo]

22. A big hug to you Mira..

:hug: It's a sad thing. I remember how happy folks were when NC got the Dell Plant.

[DAMANgoldberg]

25. not a good thing for the Triad...

The Triad has always been the NC stepchild to the Triangle area and Metrolina (where I live, Charlotte). I do remember when they got the plant, dovetail that with FedEx, and W-S was starting to overcome the essential loss of RJ Reynolds (name only), Hanes, and the old Wachovia. Now what's left is BB&T, the 2 hospital systems, and Wake Forest. I hope that the factory can be re-used as a green battery factory or hydrogen engine builder.

[No Elephants]

33. Great idea! At least make good use of the factory. Maybe the state will make Dell

contribute to re-tooling the plant and the workers.


Way to look for the pony in the pile. Good on you.

[christx30]

27. Sucks for W-S

I lost my job of 12 years at Dell a year ago because they moved up to W-S. Hard to believe that they were out of there that fast. Dell is going downhill FAST. A friend of mine that works at Dell told me a couple of weeks ago that her department (enterprise project coordinator) is the only one making money. The whole ship is sinking. Best to get off and find something else.

[No Elephants]

31. Sorry to hear that. Sadly, I have a feeling the state will never see Dell keep his promises, either

Please don't let his promises be forgotten.

[SWr]

15. dam

Ive had Dell's never had a problem except one with a fan.

I was just about to get a new one too but not anymore.

Now ive gotta redo my research. Anyone have any good brands they can rec?

[skoalyman]

17. save money build your own

;-)

[Occulus]

37. I'll second that

Here's what you do.

First, go to TigerDirect.com and see about barebones kits. These come with a motherboard and CPU, case, and RAM. Tiger's prices are really really low, so this is probably the best place to start.

You'll probably want a more powerful power supply, as well as more RAM. Power supplies vary; I wouldn't go with anything less than a 600W PS, nor would I do anything less than 4GB of RAM. You'll also want at least one PCI Express video card; if you want two cards, make certain your motherboard is capable of running both.

Then you put it all together. You'll need to pay close attention to which jumpers from the case go on what pins on the motherboard, but that's really the very hardest part. Doing it this way can save you hundreds of dollars (or thousands if you're switching from Mac to PC, because Macs are several multiples of the amount you'll pay for PC parts from Tiger).

I rebuilt my old machine this way. For $460, I bought a motherboard, 4GB of RAM, an AMD Phenom quad core CPU, and two NVidia GeForce 9500GT video cards. TigerDirect has lots of good deals, so just shop around and see what you come up with.

[B3Nut]

40. And be cautious of power supples

many claim large power ratings, but inside are cheap junk that can cause damage. Apevia/Aspire and Deer and other $20 units are poorly-made, I've had to replace dozens upon dozens of those. I like Apevia's cube cases, but I recycle bin the supplies after harvesting the fan screws and charcoal-gray fan grill (only good parts in it!) Generally, a power supply that comes with a cheap case should go straight to the recycle bin, do not connecte it to any hardware you care about. I recommend SeaSonic or FSP/Sparkle, or anything made by them as OEM's...Corsairs are good, higher-end Antecs are made by SeaSonic as well and are solid (avoid the older TruePower 2.0, those used a cheap brand of capacitor that is well-known for bulging and spewing electrolyte. I can't tell you how many of those I've junked for that failure mode. I have a brand-new 550-watt one of those, I use it as a doorstop.) http://www.jonnyguru.com/ has the best power-supply reviews, hands down...they tear them apart, test them with a load tester under stressful conditions, and let you know when they blow up under test.

[Occulus]

42. Yes, you should be willing to drop a few bucks on a decent PS

I think mine has an undocumented feature (I could give you the make/model if you asked, but I really don't want to dig out my receipt just now). After I cut the power (hard switch and unplug), the machine will not power up again for a period of time. I used to think there was something wrong with the way I connected the power switch on the case to the motherboard, but I'm starting to discount that theory, as I've been over the connections about a dozen times, and everything's right.

I think my power supply simply will not allow itself to be used for a given time period after a 'hard' power loss. I don't know how a power supply could accomplish that (some capacitor delay circuit, maybe?), but I'm always able to power up my PC eventually... I just tend to think something's "wrong" in the interim.

Have you ever heard of such a feature? I couldn't find anything at all related to that with my model, but that doesn't mean it's not there as an undocumented feature. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, either- I can reboot just fine, and I never have any power issues even when taxing my machine to its limits.

I'll be going to that site the next time I have to junk a PS or buy a new one. Thanks.

[tomm2thumbs]

16. those govt incentives sound like socialism to me - tsk tsk Dell's GOP owner a socialist??

/nt

[KoKo]

23. It was about a state trying to give tax incentives to get jobs. Not socialism..

and Repugs always claim that they "business is taxed to death" yet when states give them money and tax incentives to stay in AMERICA...they take the money then cut out after a few years. In this case Dell says they will pay the state back...but why couldn't they stay? NC is a "Right to Work" state.. No union involved in this. They got big breaks and cheap labor...still they move overseas. Why doesn't our National Government do something about this? The states give the breaks but National Policy allows these corporations to go overseas...while taking advantage of a year or two or more of tax incentives from starving states with unemployed. :shrug:

[tomm2thumbs]

24. sounds so socialistic, I can't believe that Republican Michael Dell isn't held to account for it

'a bailout for Dell' and then Dell bails out on their own bailout - how nice for that American patriot Republican Michael Dell

[No Elephants]

32. You're 100% right. It;'not socialism. It's corporate welfare.

With socialism, taxpayers at least get ownership for their money. With corporate welfare, taxpayer's money goes only to the rich. And probably to the politicians as well.

Why Americans have not revolted is beyond me.

I'm not betting on Dell's keeping his promises, either, unless the citizens of North Carolina make it their cause. What's the likelihood they'll do that, though?

[littlebit]

18. I would like to say I didn't see this coming.

But they have laid off a lot of people from that plant in the last year. A good friend of mine was let go a few months ago. It's a shame. This area can't afford to lose anymore jobs.

[sarcasmo]

20. No need to read the article, let me guess moving the work to India or China.

F/U Dell.

[Psephos]

26. Article does not say they're moving the plant or transferring to China or India.

Article does say that

Dell has plants in the U.S. (Miami, Nashville, Austin, Texas), Brazil, Ireland, Poland, China, Malaysia and India. It also partners with other manufacturers to make certain products.

The plant closure is part of a plan to save $4 billion a year at Dell by 2011.

In June, Dell sold its Lebanon, Tennessee, remanufacturing plant to Genco. In January, Dell said the company would move its Ireland manufacturing operations to Poland, a process that is still ongoing.

It sounds like they're closing this facility because of reduced demand for PCs and little prospect for an improving market anytime soon. Dell has sunk considerable money into the plant but not its full capital package yet, and is looking to avoid the additional expenditures and investments it had planned during better times.

[KoKo]

21. I remember when my state, NC gave them all those incentives...at least Dell says they will pay it

back...but it seems the death bell for all those states who gave the tax breaks to get industries to stay here in American...and in the end the companies leave, anyway.

There's something wrong here and it isn't being addressed even by our Democrats. It was a Dem NC Govenor who agreed to the tax breaks to get Dell here. They used us...and are leaving...but, as I said..at least they'll give the money in tax breaks back to NC..or so they say. I'll believe it when it goes into the NC State Kitty. Could be just talk.

[No Elephants]

34. Please see Reply ##'s 32 and 33.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

28. What's important is that the CEO gets his options and bonus. C'mon y'all, have a heart.

:hide:

[Romulox]

36. Well, I'm going to drive my Honda right down to the Apple store.

To buy a Made in China MacBook. That'll show 'em!

[Blackhatjack]

41. What is not being reported is how DELL negotiated the NC incentives to start with...

... supposedly NC was negotiating with DELL to match or slightly exceed the incentive deal being offered by Richmond VA which was over $100 mil --when in fact, after the NC incentive deal was struck and DELL accepted it turned out the Richmond VA deal offered to DELL was only $30-40 mil.

This is the kind of situation where DELL should have been held responsible for communicating truthfully the amount offered by Richmond VA in its negotiations with NC.

Corporate deception at the inception, and now they are leaving after NC provided the infrastructure perks open and run the NC plant.

[AngryOldDem]

43. The recession won't be over until the unemployment figures go way down.

That is all.