Technology sector faring better than most despite job losses

ANALYSIS:DELL'S MOVE to reduce staff numbers by 230 was not totally unexpected.

Despite being one of the world’s largest PC makers, Dell has been struggling in recent years.

Margins generally in the business have been squeezed, particularly since consumers started favouring lower-margin netbooks, while competitors such as HP and Lenovo have been eating into its market share.

When it announced fourth-quarter results last month, the company signalled that it would need to make an additional $1 billion in savings over the next two years. Staff in the US were laid off last week, but the firm did not confirm how many lost their jobs in North Caroline and Tennessee.

Despite the job losses at Dell, and recent announcements by Intel and HP that they would trim staff numbers, the technology sector is faring better than most during the recession.

Last week HP said it was investing €18 million in its Irish operations which would see the creation of 500 jobs to support outsourcing contracts. HP Ireland managing director Martin Murphy said this figure could easily double in the next two to three years.

Facebook is currently recruiting for 40 jobs at its international headquarters in Dublin, but Colm Long, the popular social networking site’s director of online operations, said he hoped to double this by year end.

Kathryn D’Arcy, director of lobby group ICT Ireland, said yesterday that, while the technology sector was struggling with the decrease in global demand, there was still good news emanating from the sector.

“Ireland is still attractive for technology firms, but we still have a lot to do on competitiveness,” said Ms D’Arcy.

She welcomed the Government’s “smart economy” strategy, saying it delivered 90 per cent of what ICT Ireland has been looking for. However, she said a single individual should be empowered to ensure it was delivered.