Dell Technologies Layoffs Hit Sales First, LinkedIn Posts Show

LinkedIn farewells show where the cuts hit first at the Round Rock, Texas-based company.

Senior roles in sales including a vice president of acquisitions were among the first that Dell Technologies cut in the thousands of jobs lost when the technology powerhouse on Monday announced a five-percent reduction in staff.

“I am looking for a new role and would appreciate your support,” wrote Tom Deegan, former division vice president U.S. East/acquisitions division with Dell. “Thank you in advance for any connections, advice, or opportunities you can offer.”

Deegan’s profile said he was “responsible for delighting customers.” For the last six years, Deegan managed five regions and a team focused on large accounts in the U.S. and Canada. Deegan was a regional director with Dell EMC for 19 years prior to that.

CRN has reached out to Dell for more information about the layoffs.

Jeff Clarke, the co-chief operations officer announced Dell’s layoffs Monday in a memo to employees filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision entitled “Preparing The Road Ahead.”

“Unfortunately, with changes like this, some members of our team will be leaving the company,” Clarke said. “There is no tougher decision, but one we had to make for our long-term health and success. Please know we’ll support those impacted as they transition to their next opportunities.”

[RELATED: Dell Announces Big Executive Moves After Layoffs]

The downturn in PC demand has hit Dell hard with IDC reporting that its PC orders were off 37 percent during the most recent holiday season.

Dell PC shipments dropped further than all of its competitors, such as Lenovo, HP Inc. and Apple, during the quarter, according to PC data from IDC. Overall, global shipments were down 28 percent in fourth-quarter 2022 compared with fourth-quarter 2021. Dell is the latest big tech provider to announce job cuts in the past month: Microsoft unveiled 10,000 layoffs, Google will cut 12,000 employees, and fellow PC competitor HP Inc. announced it will lay off up to 6,000 employees by 2025.

Jacob Knue, a sales director with Dell’s medium business commercial division who had been with the company for 17 years, shared in a LinkedIn post that he was thankful for his time at Dell.

“Dell gave me the opportunity to be challenged and to grow while being myself and to be able to create the life that I never would have imagined was even possible when I was that young kid just trying to make it,” he said. “Over my time here, I had the luck and fortune to start out at the very bottom and grind my way up to being a Director and a leader of leaders and I was able to drive and impact not only the business but individuals at scale.”

Also let go was Austin Hannifan, an account executive, responsible for driving technical sales strategy for Dell Technologies products and services. He wrote that working at Dell was “a dream” in which he had a chance to learn from some of the brightest minds in the business.

“Today I got the call that no one wants to receive. I was caught up in the Dell Technologies layoff,” Hannifan wrote to LinkedIn, adding that he was “Open to Work.”

Bria Simmons, a senior analyst in business development, said she was let go as well.

“I hate to say it, but after 4 years at Dell Technologies I’ve been laid off with 5 percent of the workforce,” she wrote to her followers on LinkedIn. “I have years of customer service experience and almost 5 years of sales, account management, and business development experience in tech sales.”

Anthony Pezza, who has an expertise in government data center infrastructure products and processes, said on LinkedIn he too was let go in this round of layoffs. Pezza worked with Dell’s federal infrastructure business, quoting data center projects to government agencies.