Dell is to cut 6,650 jobs, or 5% of its global workforce, as the PC maker becomes the latest U.S. tech firm to reduce costs amid economic uncertainty.

The Guardian reports that Dell told employees market conditions were deteriorating and initial attempts to save money, such as a hiring freeze and travel curbs, were not enough.
Dell has 133,000 employees, about a third of whom are based in the U.S., where the company is headquartered.

The Dell cuts have been announced against a backdrop of widespread lay-offs in the tech sector, despite the wider U.S. economy adding 517,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate dropping to 3.4%.

Several big names in the U.S. tech industry have implemented cost-cutting plans after admitting that they grew too quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when online activity surged. Microsoft, Facebook owner Meta, Google’s parent Alphabet and online retailer Amazon have all announced substantial job cuts.

According to the website layoffs.fyi, which monitors tech industry job cuts globally, more than 290 tech companies have announced 88,000 jobs cuts so far this year, compared with nearly 160,000 for the entirety of 2022.