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Dell, EMC and Lenovo announce layoffs

In light of these bleak economic times, many companies are re-evaluating their corporate costs and resources. Unfortunately though, many of these cost cutting measures are resulting in layoffs.

Dell will move its European PC manufacturing operation from Ireland to Poland and lay off workers as it continues its belt-tightening restructuring plan, the company said on Thursday.

About 1,900 employees will be laid off at Dell’s factory in Limerick, Ireland, over the next year, with staff reductions starting next month, Dell said. The Limerick facility will continue to coordinate manufacturing, logistics and supply chain-related functions.

For EMC, despite expecting to meet revenue estimates for its fourth quarter, the company said on Wednesday that it is instituting a restructuring program that includes laying off 2,400 people.

The restructuring is aimed at streamlining costs associated with EMC’s Information Infrastructure business and will not affect VMware, EMC’s virtualization subsidiary, the company said.

Lenovo is going a step further as it plans to lay off 2,500 workers, cut the salaries of its executives and restructure its Asian operations in an attempt to weather the downturn, the company said Thursday.

The layoffs, described as part of a “resource redeployment plan,” represent 11 per cent of Lenovo’s global workforce, and the employees will be let go during the first quarter of 2009, the company said. It did not say where the layoffs will take place or whether they would be spread evenly across all of the regions where the company operates.