Dell complaints

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

I'm a lousy transcriptionist or I'd type in the whole articles (Austin American Statesman), maybe Linc will scan them in for us.

Dell announced earlier this ( Oct 24-28 ) week the layoff of 100-150 in China. Where are they outsourcing those jobs? To the internet Nigerian prince who promised them million$ in return for a small transfer fee?

Then a restructuring at headquarters that will layoff an estimated 300. Dell didn't release exact numbers in the reorg, the 300 came from knowledgeable insiders (several of the victims).

The reorg 'brings consumer back under Americas'. What that means to customers, or the languishing stock value, remains to be seen. It's happy holidays for the victims. I've got your 'soul of Dell', right here.
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Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[ShaftDu]

[rustyboots]

I think most of those laid off may have come from the HelpDesk in Consumer. I was told several weeks ago by a friends still working there that this was in the works. If it is the same layoffs my friends was talking about, then it includes some of the more senior people left in Consumer, thus also the some of the most highly paid. Great way to make the numbers this quarter, lay off people. Dell strikes again!!!!
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rustyboots (i use to slave at dell)

[hotrodlincoln]

[Scoop]

Why is it called "layoff" when people were fired?
Oh, that's incorrect as well. They're simply no longer with us.
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The bitch is back, buwahahaha

[rustyboots]

I hate to be so cynical, but everyone should watch the SEC filings to see who sells stock in the next week or two. I survived the massive layoffs in 2001 and I remember seeing who sold shares. Upper management was dumping stock like crazy at those LOW options prices; some option prices were under a $1.00. The same people who fired people sold options before the stock went lower. I would imagine the same will happen now. Some of the same people are now in charge again.....R* P***a being one of them.
Just curious as to who sticks with the company and who sells out. Rats leaving a sicking ship? LOL
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rustyboots (i use to slave at dell)

[Uwe]

Adding 2-cents worth on what was heard by my friend in hallway chatter :

1) EMEA announced 170 layoffs on FRI. APJ is also kicking out folks, but keeping some of them until Dec 31st to keep the year end rush

2) Layoffs included senior execs, directors and C3 levels since they eliminated two major business segments of Home & Small Business ( that is where most of the salary & seniority came from ).. Heck, they even kicked out the Father of Business Process Improvement at the corp and first Executive Black-Belt winner.

3) Heard on grapevine... Dell VP of Global Diversity is terminally ill in Houston with cancer and will pass away by end of this year. Yet, not a peep from corpcomm on it.

All in all, it is about 1,800 they kicked out in 2 weeks. Which is a medium number considering in 2001 the 5,000 were kicked and another 3,000 contractors ejected and 2,000 folks leaving by choice before the economy got flooded with unemployed folks.

Things happen when Dell missed 80% of its quarter profits, not to mention the bad quarters they had for the past year and half.

[Uwe]

[quote="Scoop"]Why is it called "layoff" when people were fired?
Oh, that's incorrect as well. They're simply no longer with us. [/quote]

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(remark) If they "fire" you, you have no severence package, they can place a black mark in your employment record and you will find it hard to get another job.

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

[rustyboots]

If the Father of BPI is gone, there is a chance Dell may last another 6 months before the bottom falls out. BPI sounds good, but the actual practice is fraught with probable fraud and BS.
I have seen good people get put on PIP and others who come and go as they please, left alone for months. I cant say it was pucker factor, but you have to wonder how they get away with it!
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rustyboots (i use to slave at dell)

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

Sup Rusty? I'm feeling kinda oxidized myself. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk! (No offense, cheap 'ba-da-boom'.)

Yeah, let's expose the practice of BPI. Great thing to keep in the back of your mind for day-to-day decisions. Like "think green". That's in the hypothetical sense, all but one time in a hundred where that little extra awareness makes a difference.

It adds up in a mega-corporation, but it hasn't added to stock value which is the ultimate goal, and it hasn't added to better operations which is an intermediate goal.

What it DOES add up to, is 'administrative overhead' which every otherwise-productive employee has to budget into the job s/he was actually HIRED for.

And what does this overhead produce? The answer is nebulous. But it tends to make a whole lot of people look stressed, frazzled, a leeeee-tle TOO busy. Frazzle was kinda fun, back when your stock options split every 9 months. Oh, and 'back then', they were also building an 'empire' out of mostly nothing but an obsessed Intel salesman, there's an entertainment factor to that. Now, 'frazzle' is little more than a liability to health and well-being that detracts from performance.

Think they could 'build that empire' today? With their BPI blackbelts, PIP-wielding managers who just want to hire their fraternity brothers, layoffs performed with the surgical grace of a blind farmer swinging a dull machete... where does one stop?...

BPI in practice becomes a 4th-grade-dodgeball gym exercise. Initiatives requiring employees to use company toilet paper on both sides, stuff like that, because everyone is under the gun to come up with something.

After 2 or 3 fiscal quarters, every 'business process' that CAN be substantially improved already HAS BEEN. and productivity is being sacrificed for procedure; the process works against itself when pursued obsessively. Aren't MBAs supposed to know this stuff? Why the **** not? What DO they know then

Slogans are like... well, slogans. In government and religion, slogans are job one. Management too eh? It's just another control institution and operates under the same principles. We can only be 'so shocked' to discover that.

OK then, time for a new slogan! Got any zingers?
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Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[rustyboots]

Rocke,
Oxidized? Nice term. I would have to say I was pretty much carbonized when I left Dell.
You are right, in theory BPI is a good idea. In practice, it pushes people to think of anything that looks like it saves money. In my opinion, it is a good thing in a "production" atmosphere where people actually touch things, i.e. Dell production.
In a tech support atmosphere, where 99.99% of activity is on the phone with customers, BPI tends to "look" successful. In reality, you are moving numbers from Column A to Column B to Column C and telling Management that you have saved money by keeping people on the phones more. In actually, you have them hiding in other phone codes that are not shown in the Power Point slides you use to show how good your Project was. The MBA's know this, but if they ever point it out and if all the BS is ever exposed, all those options will be lost. If you get options any more! You are right, it was fun to work in that "frazzled" atmosphere when options were a possibility.
For a while in Consumer, it appeared you had more Project Managers that you had techs. If each one of them saved "real" money instead of BPI money, Dell could make their numbers every quarter with no problem. But BPI savings are fictional, not real. Looks like you saved, but you did nothing. Maybe one day someone will wake up. But I suspect the Feds may catch on before Dell Management does.
Sorry just a little venting! LOL
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rustyboots (i use to slave at dell)

[mondeo]

I (sadly) can confirm that there is a currently a major cull going on within the UK - 180 people to go through involuntary redundancy and at the moment S&P and ASG are suffering the most. Apparantly the whole ASG management structure from the top down has been removed and the whole of S&P is gone.

As usual (and in traditional Dell style) no one high up is confirming anything and everyone is being left hanging speculating and not knowing whether they will have a job tomorrow or not. The annoucemet was made on Friday which screwed everyones weekends and even now at 18.20 still very few know whats happening - appreciate these things have to done now and again but we are human beings with emotions, families and mortgages and we are being treated with utter contempt and a COMPLETE lack of respect.

Will keep you all posted.

[The_Insider]

mondeo

know quite good some ppl in Bracknell. Will check tomorrow, if they are still there.
Here also ..no real statement.
At least our Works Council has made some statements and also the ppl here are not leavin without Dell has to pay them some money.
Why is this not public? Normally every newspaper, online site is eager to post such things?

[mondeo]