Around 50 Cork jobs to go as part of Dell-EMC cull in Cork

An estimated 50 Cork-based jobs are to be cut at newly merged technology giant Dell-EMC, it emerged yesterday.

It is understood that the redundancies will only affect the existing operations of data storage company EMC, in Ovens, and will cover a range of job areas.

The development is due to the overlap of job functions brought about by Dell’s recent takeover of EMC.

Dell completed its $67bn (€61bn) purchase of EMC last month; at which time the cutting of 2,000-3,000 jobs mostly in the US was mooted.

The jobs being cut in Cork comprise less than 1% of the enlarged entity’s Irish workforce.

In all, the combined businesses employ 5,500 people here.

EMC employs 3,000 people in Ovens and Dell around 2,500 people across facilities in Limerick, Cork, and Dublin.

EMC has, for some time, been one of the biggest private sector employers in the Munster area and this news will come as a blow for the region.

Nevertheless, the result is seemingly not as bad as had been feared, with reports suggesting anything up to 200 roles had been viewed as being under pressure.

Dell-EMC now forms part of the wider Dell Technologies group, which houses the likes of cybersecurity firm RSA; software consultancy Pivotal, hardware manufacturer Dell and cloud computing company VMWare, all of which have existing facilities in Ireland.

A spokesperson for Dell Technologies yesterday said the job losses were unavoidable, but were being minimised.

“While job reductions are never our first alternative and we strive to minimise them, in a merger of this size they are necessary given some overlap in functions,” said the spokesperson.

“We will do everything possible to minimise any impact on jobs.

“Following the recent merger of Dell and EMC to form Dell Technologies, we expect revenue gains will far outweigh any cost savings, and revenue growth drives employment growth.”

The company also offered its full commitment to Ireland, a territory highly regarded by the group’s management. The spokesperson said: “Ireland is, and remains, an important base for Dell Technologies.

“We are proud of the team we have built in Ireland and look forward to it continuing its work to drive our global business forward.”

Dell founder Michael Dell and EMC chief executive David Goulden reportedly visited the combined entity’s workers in Cork in May to discuss the merger.

The Dell-EMC deal was the largest technology transaction on record and was done to give Dell a broader product offering with which to challenge the likes of IBM, Cisco Systems, and Hewlett-Packard in areas such as cloud computing, mobility and cyber security.

Speaking on the conclusion of the deal, which took nearly a year to complete, Mr Dell called it “an historic moment”, saying that “our investments in R&D and innovation, along with our 140,000 team members around the world will give us unmatched scale, strength and flexibility deepening our relationships with customers of all sizes”.

Last year, Dell was named seventh largest exporter in Ireland, selling €8.65bn worth of goods to international markets, according to the Irish Exporters Association and Investec Ireland. That placed it higher than Apple with €6bn worth of exports.