Dell to rehire 150 employees

Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines announced that Dell Inc. will hire back 150 employees that had been laid off in recent months during the regular meeting of the Winston-Salem City Council on Monday. Joines said Dell executives informed him of the move during a phone call last week. The good news comes after a May 11 meeting between Dell officials and the city’s finance committee regarding job cuts at the Forsyth plant since January. During the meeting, Dell officials confirmed that the total number of people employed by the facility has shrunk from 1,400 to 1,140 in the past six months. Dell officials also said they plan on meeting the stipulations that came along with the $22.2 million in economic incentives provided by the city and the county. The city’s financial incentives to Dell are based on the company meeting specific benchmarks, including a requirement the plant employ a least 1,700 people at the Forsyth plant at an average annual salary of $28,000 by October 2010. —KTB