Dell Encouraging Employees to Take Unpaid Time Off to Cut Costs

It seems like every tech company is feeling the pinch these days, and Dell is no different. In order to cut costs, they are encouraging employees to take up to five unpaid vacation days or a severance package during Q4. CEO Michael Dell has also initiated a hiring freeze and announced that the company will be using fewer contract workers during this time. Dell hopes to trim $US3 billion off its annual spending over the next few years, and my guess is that another round of layoffs might occur if these preliminary measures don’t help enough in the short term. [AP]