Dell..... ooooooops

[haraldo]

I just read in the news that all Dell employees in Norway and Sweden has been offered a termination package, when I say all, I mean 100%, absolutely all employees probably including CEO, and all of management...

3 mth salary + 1 mth salary for each year you worked in the company...

I'm not sure how this is in other countries, US included but it would suprise me if the party flags are waiving around the global Dell offices right now

Michael Dell is seemingly showing his powers in a very determined way at the moment....

 

[markw]

"Offered"???

What happens if they decline the offer. Can they continue working for their current pay?

Here in Jersey, we're used to those kind of offers.

 

[haraldo]

"Offered"???

What happens if they decline the offer. Can they continue working for their current pay?

Here in Jersey, we're used to those kind of offers.

If they refuse they will continue working, within the same position, same compensation package, as far as I know
But it's a clear sign, when a company states that they really don't want to have you there

Then the most clever people start leaving... and then you can imageine what's going to happen

 

[j_garcia]

That sounds like a standard offer to me. Yes, you keep your job for now, but it will also explicitly state "does not guarantee you a job going forward" or something similar. Meaning, if there is a layoff, you will be affected basically. We had one of those last year. I was offered one that was better than that - 5 months including bonuses and benefits to leave. I accepted it and had another job in a week.

 

[haraldo]

Well, things, are.... rules for laying off people are much much tougher over here than in the US, so I doubt people will be laid off here unless it's really big trouble and they have to force a downscaling of the business, this will create significant waves though, and be negative for Dell.....

If Dell starts laying off people in US I guess they will be getting quite a lot of negative momentum too, is that not going to affect their sales too?

 

[lsiberian]

Dell is dying so they need to make serious changes to make it.

 

[herbu]

In my experience, when a package like this is offerred it means a layoff is coming. The company has decided, "We need to cut costs by X number of employees". First they will "offer" a voluntary package which essentially gives "layoff terms" to anyone who wants it. It is better than what you get if you just leave/retire normally, (ex. X months pay, X months medical benefits, etc). So it can be a golden opportunity for those who were planning to leave/retire soon anyway. The company will see how many people take the package voluntarily, then layoff the remaining number they need.

So although it means a layoff, it is generally a compasionate and generous way to benefit some and minimize the unwanted impact to others.

It happened to me. I was going to retire anyway. But by taking an "offer", I got all my normal retirement benefits plus a number of additional benefits. The timing was perfect for me, and it saved somebody else from being layed off.

 

[Midwesthonky]

In my experience, when a package like this is offerred it means a layoff is coming. The company has decided, "We need to cut costs by X number of employees". First they will "offer" a voluntary package which essentially gives "layoff terms" to anyone who wants it. It is better than what you get if you just leave/retire normally, (ex. X months pay, X months medical benefits, etc). So it can be a golden opportunity for those who were planning to leave/retire soon anyway. The company will see how many people take the package voluntarily, then layoff the remaining number they need.

So although it means a layoff, it is generally a compasionate and generous way to benefit some and minimize the unwanted impact to others.

It happened to me. I was going to retire anyway. But by taking an "offer", I got all my normal retirement benefits plus a number of additional benefits. The timing was perfect for me, and it saved somebody else from being layed off.

My wife's employer was doing layoffs last year. Decent package. One of the people there was planning on retiring anyway so they went to HR & Management and told them to put him on the list since it could save someone else's job. Pretty stand up in my opinion.

Otherwise, the layoff was done very poorly. They announced it would happen then took over a month before anyone knew their status. The stress everyone went through for over a month not knowing if they would lose their job or not was terrible. Some people the company wanted to keep actually left because they didn't know if they would have a job or not. So they were proactive and went and found something else.

Overall, it was done so badly that people should have been fired over it.

 

[Soccerkid830]

My wife's employer was doing layoffs last year. Decent package. One of the people there was planning on retiring anyway so they went to HR & Management and told them to put him on the list since it could save someone else's job. Pretty stand up in my opinion.

Otherwise, the layoff was done very poorly. They announced it would happen then took over a month before anyone knew their status. The stress everyone went through for over a month not knowing if they would lose their job or not was terrible. Some people the company wanted to keep actually left because they didn't know if they would have a job or not. So they were proactive and went and found something else.

Overall, it was done so badly that people should have been fired over it.

Not to derail the thread but... What company was that? Just curious.

 

[Rickster71]

Dunder Mifflin.

 

[herbu]

They announced it would happen then took over a month before anyone knew their status

Yes. Sorry for your wife and others at the company.
A layoff can be implemented in various ways. None of them are pleasant, and some worse than others. Usually when a voluntary package is offered, there is some period of time before the layoff to give folks time to decide if they WANT to leave or not. Even if you want to leave, it takes some time to prepare. Also, a company will usually say, "Here are the benefits/terms for those who choose to leave, but we cannot guarantee those same benefits/terms will be given to those who choose to stay but are layed off". So the employee has to more or less gamble. "I can leave now and get these benefits, or I can stay and maybe not get layed off... or I can stay and maybe get layed off WITHOUT getting these benefits." (BTW, I have never seen where the people who decided to stay, then were layed off, did not get the same benefit package as those who chose to leave.)

It is a VERY stressful time for both the employees and the management. I'm not sure an alternative of coming into work one day and being layed off and walked out with no warning is better. Both suck. I think most large companies today believe that the least rotten path is the one described by the OP.

(And now I am seriously biting my tongue to withhold comments about unions and government bailouts.)

 

[Hocky]

Dell is dying so they need to make serious changes to make it.

I haven't followed Dell's financials, but I doubt this is true. They're huge in the small and medium enterprise markets and are making constant acquisitions to strengthen that spot. I have spent over a million dollars with Dell in the last 2 years and I don't work for a particularly large company.

 

[herbu]

I haven't followed Dell's financials, but I doubt this is true.

Dell has been losing market share for some time now.

 

[Hocky]

Dell has been losing market share for some time now.

In what? Consumer products? Because they most certainly haven't been losing market share in the data center.

 

[Rickster71]

Michael Dell took the company private back in October.
They bought out tech-security company SonicWall Inc.
Sounds like they're expanding beyond its traditional hardware businesses.

 

[herbu]

In what? Consumer products?

Yes, in Personal Computers. Overall, the market is shifting from PCs to tablets and smartphones. But the PC market is still huge, and Dell's share is declining. To evolve with the marketplace, some companies are expanding into the newer hardware platforms, and some are shifting focus from hardware to software & services.

 

[Hocky]

Yes, in Personal Computers. Overall, the market is shifting from PCs to tablets and smartphones. But the PC market is still huge, and Dell's share is declining. To evolve with the marketplace, some companies are expanding into the newer hardware platforms, and some are shifting focus from hardware to software & services.

According to the chart that someone compiled on Wiki, Dell's consumer market share has been pretty stable since 2008 at the number 3 position and they have expanded heavily into other hardware, software, and services. I think they'll be OK.

 

[herbu]

According to the chart that someone compiled on Wiki, Dell's consumer market share has been pretty stable since 2008

I can't really speak to the reliability of "someone" or "Wiki". I can tell you that before I retired, both my salary and bonus were tied to our performance relative to our competition. Both market share and quality were measured, tracked and compared. Closely. Very, Very Closely. Measurements were from 3rd party industry standard analysts, (so we couldn't fudge).

That said, movements in relative position considered significant within the industry are small enough to be irrelevant to the consumer. Dell has a good product, has always had a good product, and you can be comfortable buying them... especially if you have a good relationship with your local Service group.