In the latest round of major tech layoffs, Dell has revealed they will cut 6,650 jobs due to slowing personal computer sales.

In an internal memo revealed by Bloomberg, Co-Chief operating officer Jeff Clarke broke the news to employees that their other cost-cutting measures were not nearly effective enough as demand for computers struggled in the difficult marketplace.

Personal computer products make up the majority of Dell’s sales, and as the market continues to struggle overall, demand has simply decreased, making Dell the most recent tech company to cut costs by announcing major layoffs.

HP also announced layoffs in November 2022 for similar issues in lower consumer demand for hardware products.

In the memo, Clarke said, “We’ve nagivated economic downturns before and we’ve emerged stronger. We’ll be ready when the market rebounds.”

However, about 5% of their workforce will be cut before the market rebounds as a result of this announcement, reducing Dell’s staff to its lowest number since 2017.

Currently, it is unclear what departments will be most affected by the cuts or where Dell’s strategies lie to get them through this downturn in demand.

Tech layoffs have quickly become the norm: Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Twitter, NetApp, PayPal, Spotify, and IBM have all announced major layoffs, leaving tech workers in jeopardy and uncertian in their positions.

In the UK, this major shift is startling as the nation struggles to fill in the tech skills gap, and with tech vacancies dismantling plans for digital transformation.

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Further, many UK tech workers lost their ability to live in the country due to losing their work visas, leaving the UK in even more jeopardy of missing out on vital tech talents.

Tech companies typically sighted over-hiring during the pandemic and a shifting market as reasons they’ve elected to layoff employees. Others have evolved their priorities to focus on emerging technologies like AI.

The latest layoffs at Dell seem to be mainly in response to a tough marketplace for hardware sales.

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