As reported by the Sunday Tribune in early March, the company is considering layoffs among its 4,500-strong irish workforce as part of a restructuring to recover the position it once had as global leader of computer production.

CEO Michael Dell, who stepped back in to save the company he founded last year, announced last week that the company would be reducing their staff numbers across the world by 10%, or roughly 8,800 jobs, and that it would effect "every region".

However the firm informed Irish employees on Friday morning that it does not expect the layoffs to have a major impact on their Irish operations and any necessary staff cuts will be done in a graduated fashion.

"The message we got was that it was pretty much business as usual. No firm decisions have been made and that anything else at this stage is just speculation, " one Dell employee told the Sunday Tribune.

"They are not expecting any dramatic layoffs for Ireland and they hope whatever happens that it can be done on a voluntary basis. Anything they will do will be done for company reasons, " the employee said.

Dell lost its longstanding lead as the world's number one PC manufacturer to rival HewlettPackard last year and its revenue per employee had been going in the wrong direction for a number of years.

The Sunday Tribune understands that Dell had already been reducing its temporary and contract staff in recent months. At full capacity the firm employed over 4,000 people in their Limerick plant and Dell is estimated to indirectly support over 16,000 jobs in the mid-west region.

In a worrying sign for Ireland, Dell recently appointed a noted expert in setting up east Asian contract manufacturing, Mike Cannon, as its head of global operations.

A spokesperson for Dell Ireland said they would not comment on the proposed job cuts.