DELL INC.
Dell will add 500 engineer jobs here
Move to expand locally is unusual since firm's focus turned
overseas.By
Dan Zehr
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Dell Inc. plans to hire more engineers in Central Texas than it has
at any time since the tech boom.
Chairman Michael Dell, in Slovakia to announce an expansion of 600
jobs at the company's sales and support center there, said Monday
that the computer maker also will add 500 engineers in the Austin
area, according to wire reports.
Earlier Monday, the company confirmed plans to build a $254 million
computer factory in Lodz, Poland, which will employ about 1,000
workers. The plant will be Round Rock-based Dell's ninth worldwide
when it opens in the fall of 2007.
Spokesman David Frink declined to comment on Dell's remarks but
said the company founder would participate in a local news
conference next Monday.
"I'm tickled to death they made this commitment," said Round Rock
Mayor Nyle Maxwell, who said he had not been aware of the hiring.
"It sounds to me like they're ready to go to war, maybe. I like
that."
Dell has struggled in recent months to keep pace with rivals. Its
traditional industry-leading growth rates have slowed, and its
stock price has slumped. It is now the subject of several inquiries
into accounting practices. The stock rose 11 cents Monday to close
at $21.46.
Dell recently has begun adding more sales and support staffers
companywide in an effort to regain momentum in sales and service.
The engineering additions announced Monday would be the company's
biggest local expansion of technical talent since it laid off 5,700
workers in 2001. Dell remains the largest tech employer in Central
Texas.
Though the engineering additions are small compared with Dell's
overall employment in Austin and Round Rock, 500 more high-paying
jobs is a "huge announcement," said Mike Rollins, president of the
Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. The jobs will create wealth in
the community, he said, and help attract more talent to the
region.
They are also Dell's investment to get its business back on
track.
"One of the underlying themes (of the expansion) is what they've
already said: 'We're going into investment mode,' " said tech
analyst Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates
Inc. " 'Margins are going to be squeezed, but we're doing this to
build a longer-term position.' "
Kay predicted that the 500 engineering jobs would be spread across
a range of products and services. Some will probably be in
industrial design, he said, but Dell also could be hiring to build
out its consulting services or its new line of products run on
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. processors.
Growth in Central Texas is unusual. In recent years, Dell has said
most of its future expansions will come overseas, mainly in markets
where it is enjoying the fastest growth, such as India, Eastern
Europe and the Middle East. Its worldwide headcount increased to
75,100 in its last quarter, up from 61,400 last year.
While Dell's overall headcount has almost doubled since the
downturn, the company has held steady in Central Texas, growing
about 12 percent to 18,000 employees. Most of its U.S. growth has
come in call-center locations, such as Oklahoma City, or new
manufac- turing centers, such as in North Carolina.
The Polish factory initially will supply desktop and notebook
computers to much of Central and Eastern Europe, adding servers
later.
"Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East those markets are
expanding, and we need to be close to those customers," CEO Kevin
Rollins said last week in New York.
Though the company offered no details about what types of
engineering jobs it might add in Austin, Rollins has said Dell
plans to expand its industrial design group to more than 60 workers
by the end of the year. Executives have started to put greater
emphasis on the design and usability of its products.
"Traditionally, we produced award-winning products . . . by leaning
on performance and cost," he said. "However, our customers are
increasingly growing sensitive to industrial design and usability
in addition to cost and performance."
But Rollins also said Dell will outsource more research and
development, and much of that will happen overseas. The company
operates four design centers in Asia, closer to its suppliers and
its rapidly growing operations in India and China.
So, who's graduating soon again? 
