Dell closing N.C. manufacturing plant

From CNET News.com: Dell is closing its desktop PC manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The cost-cutting move will ax 905 jobs, with 600 workers set to be laid off in November and the rest in January, Dell said Wednesday.

"This is a difficult decision, especially for our North Carolina colleagues, but a necessary one for Dell customers and our company," Frank Miller, vice president of Dell's Public Business Unit Supply Chain, said in a statement.

Dell had announced some layoffs at the North Carolina plant in March but gave no indication that the plant itself might be in danger of shutting down.

This plant closure is just the latest in a series of efforts by Dell to shrink expenses worldwide by billions of dollars.

In 2007, the company said it would lay off 8,800 employees, or 10 percent of its global workforce. However, the company modified that number last year, cautioning workers to expect even deeper cuts.

Over the past few years, employees in Canada, Ireland, and, of course, the U.S. have gotten pink slips.

The appetite of consumers toward laptops over desktops was a factor behind the decision to close the North Carolina plant, which opened four years ago. Last year, Dell shut down its desktop manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas.

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