Business consortium bids to 'save' 2,000 jobs at Dell
A group of business leaders is working on a plan it believes can keep 2,000 Dell workers in employment, amid fears the computer firm is about to wield the axe.
The group is in discussions with the Government over a plan which would see the threatened jobs outsourced.
Amid deep concern in Limerick over the threat to the huge Dell facility which employs 3,000 people, it has emerged that negotiations between the consortium and the Government took place over the Christmas period.
The business figures are attempting to have the multinational outsource their manufacturing role to the 2,000 people they already employ in Limerick.
The group includes a prominent figure who held a senior post at Dell computers and has extensive knowledge of their operation and set-up.
The group also has a range of international contacts and interests in the IT industry.
The Irish Independent has learned that the group is attempting to save the 2,000 manufacturing jobs at Dell's Raheen plant in Limerick by outsourcing the operation.
Negotiations are under way with the Government and the consortium is attempting to come up with a viable package that would be acceptable and attractive to Dell Computers.
Next month, the founder and chief executive of the international computer giant, Michael Dell, is expected to announce that 2,000 jobs in Limerick are to be axed as part of a global review of Dell's structures.
A further 15,000 jobs in service and supply companies in the mid-west region could be seriously affected as a result.
Dell's president of global operations, Michael Cannon, is expected to outsource Dell's manufacturing to lower cost bases, already a concept employed by rivals Hewlett-Packard and IBM whose products are now made by Asian manufacturers.
Dell has admitted that it wants to reduce expenses so that in 2010 its costs are $3bn (€2.1bn) a year lower than they were in 2007 and they began a review of their operations earlier this year to achieve this.
Business
Now, the group, which includes senior business leaders from the mid-west area, is attempting to propose to Dell to retain its 2,000 workers as contracted employers. They would no longer work directly for Dell computers, but the workers could be used to outsource the manufacturing.
A senior Government source confirmed that negotiations are ongoing. The source said last night there were a number of advantages to staying in Limerick as opposed to moving to a cheaper location.
"There are a number of advantages to staying here if the price is right. It is still all up in the air," the source said. "Efforts are also being made towards other suggestions, but let's see how this one pans out first."
Dell has always cited that the Limerick manufacturing plant was the jewel in the crown of its international bases. Dell arrived in Ireland in 1990 when it opened its Limerick manufacturing base to serve its European, Middle Eastern and African markets.
Ironically, the decision to close its Limerick facility comes at a time when the mid-west has greater connections to global markets than ever before.
The resumption of the Aer Lingus Shannon-Heathrow service in March together with the newly established Air France/CityJet Charles de Gaulle route provides the region with its greatest ever connectivity to international hubs.
- Barry Duggan
