EMC sharpens axe to slash workforce ahead of Dell merger

EMC is preparing to slash its workforce ahead of the company's acquisition by Dell.

According to a filing with the SEC, the organisation has set aside $250 million (169 million) for the cull, which "will be substantially completed by the end of the first quarter of 2016".

The company said the planned redundancies are part of its programme to reduce annual costs by $850 million by 2017, which was announced in July.

Dell subsequently announced its intention to buy EMC in November 2015, with the deal expected to close within the first half of this year, but it does not seem that this has had any effect on EMC's slimming mission.

While Michael Dell said the acquisition is "more about revenue synergies than cost synergies" at Dell World in November, he did not deny that some jobs may go in the process. It is unclear whether this would be in addition to those for which the $250 million fund has been set aside.

EMC has not revealed how many jobs are set to go, nor where the axe will fall. However, there have been persistent rumours that the company's 3,000-strong workforce in the Republic of Ireland could be a major victim of the cuts, particularly as Dell already has a similar number of staff in the country.

The Dell-EMC merger, valued at $67 billion (45 billion), will be the biggest ever seen in the tech world when it completes within the next six months.

Picture courtesy of EMC