Dell decision due in October

As rumors continue to swirl around Dell in Raheen about the future of some 3,000 jobs in plant, The Limerick Leader is reporting tonight that a decision on the situation is due in October.

The worry is that the Limerick plant could be downsized or or even closed if the company begins mass production and a cheaper country like Poland.

Polish media is apparently reporting that the city of Lodz (above) is Dell’s chosen location for their second European plant. A polish newspaper reported that the reason Dell are attracted to the city is due to its large student population and low labour costs.

A reuters article,

WARSAW (Reuters) - Dell Inc,the world's largest personal computer maker, will invest 120 million euros ($153.3 million) in a new plant in Poland's second-largest city Lodz, daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported on Monday.

Citing unnamed sources, Wyborcza said the company had picked Poland over Slovakia for the plant. It said that together with subcontractors the investment would generate 12,000 new jobs.The company was not immediately available for comment

Although Dell have conformed they will be setting up in Eastern Europe, management in America have done there best to assure its employees in Raheen that Limerick operations will not be downsized and that the plant is extremely important to them. Workers however are not convinced.

The city of Lodz website describes the city

"The atmosphere of this exceptional city and the entrepreneurship, energy and willingness to cooperate on the part of its inhabitants will make you share the view that Łódź is a city worth investing in; a city where one can not only make good business and achieve success, but have a good time as well"

8,000 jobs in the Limerick region would be effected if the Dell plant were to close completely.