EDMONTON, Alberta - Cost-cutting by Texas computer-maker Dell has hit a second Canadian city, with plans announced to close a 900-staff call center in Edmonton, Alberta.
Kenn Bur of the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation, which was instrumental in convincing Dell to open the Edmonton center with an agreement to lease Dell city-owned land for $1 a year for 20 years and a break on property taxes, said it wasn't a complete surprise.
"The company didn't know three years ago they would lose some global market-share and have to restructure and that the value of the Canadian dollar would rise by approximately 30 percent and that the Edmonton labor market would tighten so much," he told the Edmonton Sun.
The closure is slated for completion by July and came on the heels of the announcement of a call center reduction in Ottawa. Dell had earlier said it would expand that center from 1,200 jobs by 1,500. Wednesday, the company said the expansion was canceled and the existing workforce would be reduced, the report said.
Dell share values have fallen by more than 30 percent over the last three months.
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