Dell will lay off workers as it reorganizes sales team with new AI-focused unit

Dell Technologies is cutting jobs as part of a reorganization of its sales teams that includes a new group focused on artificial intelligence products and services.

“We are getting leaner,” sales executives Bill Scannell and John Byrne wrote Monday in a memo to Dell employees. “We are simplifying management layers and redefining priorities where we invest.” In addition to the AI-focused team, executives said the company will change the way data center sales are approached.

The Texas-based hardware technology company has enjoyed a revival of investor interest over the past year due to its high-powered servers that can run AI workloads. Still, there is growing concern about how long it might take for companies to see a return on AI investments, which often come in the form of expensive servers or graphics processing units.

A spokesperson declined to comment on how many jobs would be affected. “Through a reorganization of our go-to-market teams and an ongoing series of actions, we are becoming a leaner company,” the spokesperson said.

Shares are up 34% this year through Friday’s close, although they have given back more than 40% of their value since hitting a record high of $179.21 on May 29.

Dell previously announced a major workforce reduction in early 2023, eliminating 13,000 jobs that fiscal year. As of February, it had about 120,000 full-time employees worldwide, Dell said in a regulatory filing that month.

The company’s best-known business of selling personal computers has struggled in recent years amid a post-pandemic decline in that market. Still, computer industry shipments have started to increase, and Dell is optimistic that a new generation of AI-optimized PCs will drive upgrades.

“Our goal is to grow faster than the market by meeting our customers and partners online, virtually or in person to unlock the value of modern IT and AI for their organizations,” Dell executives wrote in the memo to employees .

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