This is a sign of things to come with the Sonics...once the handouts run dry, off they go.

The city gave this hoodlums a lot of $$$$ to come here, and once that leveled off to where they had to participate in an actual capitalist operating system, they run off.

Wake up people!

mapsformillionaires.org

I feel very bad for the folks who lost their jobs. After reading comments from some of the actual folks who do or had worked there I can feel their pain. Its too bad everything is so throwaway in today's culture, people, jobs, relationships. Life has always been transitory at best but their we in the US have been spoiled by the prosperity of the post WWII era I suppose. Keeping yourself relevant in today's job situation is dicey at best. Jean's story was particularly poignant, I mean fired over the answering machine and that shaggy dog story Dell gave her about the automatic deposit. Pretty creepy I must say. Good luck Jean! Did the dirty dogs give you any severance?

Jokelahoma is always screwing up something. They were proud that they got menial jobs such as Dell. We're still 47th per capita income. With such poor planning, one can understand why they're destroying our mass transit center Union Station for a bigger highway. That's their idea of creating more jobs. Then then have Maps for Millionaires vote on March 4, another fine job of poor planning.

I was laid off at DELL/OKC yesterday. Complete surprise to me because I was assured when I got my job 6 months ago that it was secure and in no way would I be let go, it was a career etc. It took me 6 months to get hired at Dell after months of applying and interviews. I asked numerous times about job security because I was part of the layoffs last year at AOL in OKC. I worked at AOL for over 10 years and believed my job was safe there and BAM...layoff. Same thing yesterday at Dell. I can't figure out why they went through the trouble of a schedule change last week etc. if they were going to lay everyone of, they have known for awhile and with held it from us.

I got my last day's pay deposited into my bank account on Wednesday, when I went to HR I was told it was a payroll mistake and not to spend the money because it would be withdrawn when they found the mistake etc. They said it happened to everyone with automatic deposit. Then I was told yesterday that's my last paycheck not a mistake.

Here is how I found out yesterday. I was off yesterday out running around town, shopping etc. When I came in I had a message from Dell on my answering machine informing me I was let go and that DHL would deliver my paperwork to sign sometime next week to my home. They laid me off over the answer machine! What poor taste, even AOL was better to us than that, they gave us 6 months notice. The real crappy thing? I was looking online at the news stories about the layoff and some were printed hours before I found out on my machine. They left my message at 7:32 PM and the layoffs were on the 6 o'clock news last night.

So yes while all of you say "It's only a small percent of the workforce", or "the OKC job market is good etc." Remember it took me 6 months to get a decent paying job last year after hundreds of resumes and interviews. I took a couple of small paying jobs along the way because I am a single mother who has 3 children to raise, but it was very difficult for me.

I enjoyed working at DELL and the pay for me to start was good (if still about 25% less than what I made at AOL) and the benefits were good, it's too bad they have zero respect for their employees. I have no idea about the $8-$9 an hour jobs at Dell. I received close to $20 an hour to start because of my previous experience.

Dell came to Oklahoma because they knew they could get a cheap work force. I have a buddy of mine here who did a study while he was in college on why OKC couldn't get on the "short list" of potential sites for major corporations to bring big paying jobs to back in the 80's. The basic bottom line of the whole deal was that the City touted the fact that the state was loaded with an "8 or 9 dollar an hour work force" even though every company that looked at settling here told them they didn't want a cheap work force..but the city continued to use that as a selling point. Corporations, along with not wanting a cheap, uneducated work force, also wanted something for their employees to do after work and OKC and surrounding area offered nothing....I think you'll find thats where MAPS came from....and still the best OKC can do is lose places like GM and Dayton Tire and secure low paying jobs like Dell....

HEY!! Settle Down People!! I love my job at Dell! Some of you obviously do not know the structure of the company or the pay scale. Every single person that is left at Dell feel terrible for those that lost their jobs today. I do not believe this was an easy decision to be made. No one wants to see anyone lose their job and I don’t believe the top dogs of the company liked what happened. I am fortunate and did not lose my job today. However!! As a company they have better benefits than any company I have had the pleasure to work for! The benefits are well appreciated and I am grateful for mine! It is a meritocracy that works! You are not passed up for any advancement because Joe Blow or Suzy Whoever has been there longer. When 9 of 10 times they do not deserve the advancement because they do not do their jobs to their full potential and only receives it due to their tenure. Dell training is fantastic for any sales rep! From the top of the employment chain to the bottom; “SUCCESS” is all that is wanted for each and every individual that works there! The staff is a very diverse mix of personalities and nationalities that do work hard to supply customers with good service. Michael Dell has built this company and deserves his money that he banks. If it was your company of this magnitude wouldn’t you want to be paid very well? I do not understand the attack on someone like Michael Dell‘s income irregardless of what company it is! He found the way to make a marketable product and get rich on it. So what? Are we jealous? Every single one of us have the opportunity to do the same - we just have to find and act on it. I pray I do not lose my job at Dell because I absolutely love my job and the company I work for, but if I do I will be taking with me valuable training. Today was very unfortunate and I absolutely hate it! Attacking in this manner is not going to solve any issues. Who knows what is in store for Dell OKC. Maybe it will be better, maybe some of those laid off today will be rehired for whatever plans are in store. We do not know, none of us do.

I was recruited by Dell and eventually accepted their offer. It took me only two months to learn that I had been sold a sack of lies. I was told that the only way that I would get out of the entry-level business sales position is if I put in 10-12 hours per day. I did that, without compensation, and exceeded my sales quota...only to have it adjusted up, which significantly decreased my commission. I was then told to work even more hours, and on Saturday. After month two, I observed the mass departure of employees and followed them out the door. It is one of the best decision that I ever made.

Former Dell Sales Reps in Oklahoma City File Class-Action Overtime- Pay Lawsuit

By Marie Price

Two former sales representatives at the Oklahoma City Dell Computer call center have filed a federal class-action lawsuit alleging that they were not paid for all of the overtime they worked at the facility.

The lawsuit is similar in nature to one filed in February for overtime pay at the Roseburg, Ore., Dell facility.

Plaintiffs' attorney William Federman said Monday that the potential class size ranges from several hundred to more than 1,000 individuals.

He estimated that damages may amount to "a couple of million" dollars.

"Our goal is to protect the people in Oklahoma who were denied benefits by Dell and were shortchanged on their compensation," Federman said.

The lawsuit was filed as a class-action complaint against Dell Inc., dba Dell Computer Inc.; Dell USA LP and Dell Marketing LP by Catherine L. Davis and Tommy Moore, listed as former Dell sales representatives, and demands a jury trial.

According to the complaint, Davis worked for Dell for eight months beginning in July 2005, Moore for about seven months in 2006.

Davis and Moore allege that Dell uses a timekeeping system called Kronos to keep track of hours worked by sales representatives, who are eligible for overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per week.

"Kronos regularly and routinely does not record all of the hours worked by sales representatives and because of these errors, sales representatives are routinely not paid for all the hours they work," the complaint claims. "Dell has been on notice of the Kronos record- keeping errors for years, but has failed to correct the errors or obtain a new method of time keeping for sales representatives. Dell has failed to pay sales representatives for their hours worked, even after it was notified about Kronos errors."

Davis and Moore also allege that the program deducts an hour of pay for lunch, even if a sales representative does not take a lunch break or does not take a full hour. They also contend that Dell does not pay sales personnel for attendance at mandatory meetings or for completing a number of critical tasks before answering customers' calls.

The plaintiffs allege that Dell's actions violate the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Oklahoma laws relating to wages and overtime.

The lawsuit seeks compensatory and liquidated damages, pre- and post-judgment interest and any other relief the court deems fair and equitable.

Dell did not respond to requests for comment

Dell cuts more than 1,200 jobs
Layoffs include 900 employed at call center in Edmonton that will be shut down in July.


By Dan Zehr
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, February 01, 2008

Dell Inc. is laying off more than 1,200 sales and support workers in North America, including 900 employees who will lose their jobs later this year as the company shutters one of its two call centers in Canada.

The layoffs appear to be the company's largest cut since May, when Dell announced a plan to reduce its work force by 10 percent, or about 8,800 jobs. The job losses will result from the eventual closure of Dell's Edmonton, Alberta, center, which the company confirmed Thursday, and also include smaller job cuts earlier this week in Ottawa and Oklahoma City. Rumors of a new round of layoffs started circulating over the past two weeks as Dell approached the end of its fiscal year, which closes today.


The company did not announce any cuts in Central Texas on Thursday, although it has pared jobs here in smaller numbers in the past year, including internal tech-support positions.

Spokesman David Frink declined to comment on the possibility of any further cuts here or elsewhere.

Thursday's layoffs are "part of the series of changes we're making across the company to simplify the business and enhance the efficiency of our business," Frink said. He added that the company expects to update the progress of its plans when it reports fiscal fourth-quarter earnings Feb. 28.

To date, much of the streamlining effort has centered on the company's sales and support operations. Dell will phase out operations at its Edmonton facility by the end of July, Frink said. It will be the third sales and support center Dell has closed in North America in the past year. In August, it shut down a consumer sales center in Roseburg, Ore., and it closed a similar facility near Waco two months later.

Those moves eliminated about 480 jobs. Dell also laid off about 250 tech-support workers at its Nashville, Tenn., facilities in October.

With Edmonton slated to close, Dell will have call centers in five North American cities: Round Rock, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Ottawa, and Twin Falls, Idaho. Those facilities are part of a network of about 25 call centers worldwide that provide sales, service and tech support for consumers and commercial customers, Frink said.

Reports out of Oklahoma City and Ottawa estimated cuts at each facility of about 200 people apiece. Kathy Oden-Hall, a Dell spokeswoman, declined to comment on the number of layoffs in Oklahoma City but said the facility will continue to employ about 2,000 workers.

Though the call center there will continue to provide sales and tech-support for a wide range of business segments, Dell will consolidate its consumer sales operations into other facilities, including Round Rock and Nashville, Oden-Hall said. The company previously had phased out its consumer tech-support in Oklahoma City, she said, but those technicians were moved into support for commercial customers.

Though the layoffs in Ottawa didn't affect a large portion of the roughly 1,500 employees there, Dell confirmed it will forgo previously announced plans to expand its operations in Canada's capital city.

"We did have second building there," Frink said, "and we do not plan to occupy that second building."

Frink said Dell does not provide head counts for its sales and tech-support teams in Central Texas

I heard that 1-800-Flowers in Ardmore is hiring. They pay $8/hr..wooohoooo. I will say that I am glad when I get to speak to an American not someone in India when I have to call customer support.

hey, i have an idea, maybe when everyone is fired maybe the mayor of okc can remodel it for his NBA team and we the tax payers can save our millions.....

Hey R...please explain to me what voting YES will do for the issues listed by another Oklahoman on another blog today:>>I think Mister Bogota sometimes punches a little below the belt but sometimes he is right. His comments in this thread have hit dead center. I am a 45 year resident of Oklahoma and have children and the numbers of REAL problems scare me more than anything. As these numbers unfold before us year after year it IS a big problem. We can;t hide our head in the sand and pretend that we dont have: 1 out of 10 oklahomans with a mental illness, a little over 18% (thats almost 1 in 5!) are functionally illiterate, 89,000 teenage binge drinkers, a buttload (an Oklahoma metric I threw in just for grins)of metch users, a dropout rate that runs neck and neck with places that eat roadkill like we do beef, a child abuse rate that tops the U.S. charts, etc. Sometimes even snarky remarks serve to keep the nerves alive and shouldnt be dismissed out of hand.>>

Now, R...how is a yes vote on March 4th and an NBA team going to resolve these issues..can the NBA reduce illiteracy?? How about mental illness?? Tell ya what..stay in Seattle, and keep your opinions there as well.....

Does this really surprise anyone? All the jobs in Oklahoma are going....going....gone. Yes there are still some blessed with being on the payroll for Dell but for how long? The Mayor and Governor needs to spend more time doing their "public relations" work at getting Oklahoman some corporations (what is left of those not moving to China)so Oklahoman's can stay in Oklahoma!

Live here , R, and you'll see for yourself.....bringing the NBA to town is not going to make a difference in this place....and at least I live here so I have the knowledge to make statements such as I do...

Look at Edmondton, CA - they lost their whole operation. At least OKC still has WAY more jobs than Dell initially announced for the OKC center (which was originally 1,400 at top employment by the way).

Dell still have well over the amount of jobs that was initially announced and I see this as a temporary move to consolidate a division. Paul (and mister), you have so much negative to say about EVERYTHING. You are a sad, sad person. Next thing, you'll somehow try to tie this into an NBA issue. You need a life dude (and so does mr bogata). Maybe if you vote yes on Mar 4, you will start to see your city improve and maybe you could find something to be happy about.

Where's Michael in Yukon anyway? He was just telling em the other day in a blog how great Dell is.....all those 50k/year jobs...a call center is a call center..and a 10 buck an hour job is always gonna suck...but then again skilled tradesmen in Okie don't make that much more....

Micheal Dell is the founder and CEO of Dell. I hope he does do well, he deserves it. Not only does he run the company, but he built it. It's upsetting about the layoff, but not the CEO's fault.

What makes anyone think that a CEO doesn't EARN those big bucks? My husband owned his own company and deserved every penny he was paid. He was still at work when everyone else went home. He was the one responsible for the work getting done and the vendors being paid. He paid his employees very well and provided many things to them. Please don't assume that all a CEO does is come to work to pick up a check. There is a reason they are in that position. How many of you could do the job?

Mister in bogata, would you post a link to the statement by the "windbag politician" you refer to in your post, please. Thanks very much.

Well, the company is obviously not making money as they are making cuts across the board. When this happens the CEO's do suffer. The stock goes down and they lose money and the pressure goes up with the possibility that they may lose their jobs. However, I do agree that it is hard to feel sorry for CEO's that make upper six-figure

LOL !! Some windbag politician said when Dell opened that " no one in Oklahoma City will have to move out of state to look for a job now" ...I guess he thought those high paying $ 10 an hour call center jobs would last for ever. This is the tip of the iceberg I am sure , Dell recently closed a call center in Oregon...I doubt we aren't far behind.

Cletus, Mayberry - Still over 2000 employees. Can't you read? That's one of the largest payrolls in the city. Still a "big moneymaker"; and still plenty of alternatives for those 200 to find similar work.
Robin, Noble - Shame on you for not saving up and paying cash.

Well, when large companies pay huge salaries to their CEO's things like this happen. I don't know how much Dell pays their CEO but it would be interesting to find out. When will companies start taking care of the workforce and pay smaller but good saleries to their CEO's?