SOME WORKERS at Dell's Loughlinstown offices in south Dublin said they were too frightened of being penalised by their employer to speak publicly about yesterday's retrenchments.
"I've still got my job - I don't want to lose it," said one woman, in a typical response.
A few staff were willing to talk to the media gathered outside the front door of the computer maker's complex.
"The timing of it was quite sudden," said one man, who was told yesterday that he would be made redundant.
"These things happen out of the blue," he said, as he strode to his parked car.
"It's an opportunity to re-evaluate things - you have to be positive," he added.
He was pleased with his redundancy package - six weeks' pay for every year of service for employees who had been there longer than two years.
Two Dell public relations officers hovered at the front door, interrupting attempts to interview staff with requests to "not doorstep" employees near the Dell buildings. Staff scurried away whenever they approached.
The public relations officers handed out a statement about how making staff redundant would "improve competitive advantage and long-term profitability".
"In the bigger picture, the company is growing - there are double-digit levels of growth," said one of the public relations officers.
About 250 people, mostly from Cherrywood's sales, marketing and support operations, would be made redundant, the statement said.
"It's a bit tense today," said technology department worker Amit Munjal, as he left work yesterday afternoon. Mr Munjal said senior managers were told about the redundancies yesterday morning.
"People I work with are affected," said another worker at the Cherrywood site, Colin Gaughan. "I only know the minimum - that five per cent of the staff will be made redundant."