Dell offers VSS to 700 Penang staff

Friday, November 16, 2012, 04.45 PM
By Marina Emmanuel

Computer maker Dell Inc is offering a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) to 700 of its Penang workers in a bid to cut costs and stay lean.

The company yesterday announced that it will stop shipping its notebook computers from Penang to the US, Canada and parts of South America.

Dell will, however, continue to export its laptops to Australia, New Zealand and South Asia from its Bukit Minyak facility on mainland Penang.

Besides Penang, Dell has eight other manufacturing plants scat-tered around the world.

In Asia Pacific, Dell's manufacturing plants include those in Xiamen, China and Chennai in India.

Apart from making notebooks, the company also produces desktop computers, servers and storage products, which are manufactured to orders for global customers.

"The 700 affected staff will include production operators, supervisors and managers," Dell Malaysia senior manager for corporate communications Jasmine Begum told Business Times.

Dell, whose investment presence in Malaysia spans 14 years, has a total headcount of 4,500 and two facilities in Penang - one in Bukit Minyak and the other in Bayan Lepas on the island.

The company also has a global business centre in Cyberjaya.

Jasmine said the affected employees will begin to part ways with Dell beginning January 2010 and the company expects to conclude the VSS exercise by the middle of the year.

"We will however continue to hire here," she added, "in line with the Malaysian government's call to enhance its employee base and take them up the value chain."


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