Job cuts coming to Dell soon?

Questions have been centering on the fate of Dell Inc.'s (NASDAQ:DELL) employee base in recent weeks, especially as the tales of the computer maker's recent struggles came into public view. It's true that Dell recognizes where it needs to improve, starting at the top with return of company founder Michael Dell and a slew of new executives to right the ship back to its former glory, if that is even possible.

But, with the rate of Dell employee growth having far outpaced sales growth in recent years, is the company ready for a reduction in its workforce? Maybe so -- as it's been over six years since a company wide layoff was in effect at Dell. By many measurements -- like operating expenses being 11.6% of sales recently -- Dell's employee ranks are overpopulated.

Is the PC maker ready to cut some employees? Like this BusinessWeek article mentions, the most likely departments to be cut would include marketing and accounting. Positions at sales and customer support are probably safer as the company definitely needs to keep selling and continue improving its level of support to customers, an area which has been a troublesome for quite some time.