How job cuts and strict work from office policy has pulled down Dell's 'workplace rating’ to as low as zero for some teams in 2024

Dell, the commuting giant, has had a challenging year marked by layoffs, strict return-to-office (RTO) policy and implementation of a new employee management system. Unhappy with the changes, Dell employees raised their concerns through the company's annual engagement survey, known as ‘Tell Dell’.

Results of the company’s internal survey reveal a notable decline in employee satisfaction, reports Business Insider which claims to have seen the results.The report states that this year's employee net promoter score (eNPS), a critical metric indicating how likely employees would recommend Dell as a great place to work, dropped by double digits compared to the previous year.

The Business Insider report states that the score declined by as much as 68% in the global marketing team, while in some smaller teams, the eNPS was close to or at zero. Quoting Dell employees, it says that RTO initiative, layoffs, and the way changes at the company have been handled could be the reason for the decline in the score.
One staffer said: "No matter what, I've never seen a score move that fast in the wrong direction". Another told BI: "I think the marketing teams feel particularly threatened due to the accelerated adoption of GenAI to streamline marketing processes and reduce cost."

Tell Dell has reportedly been conducted annually for at least eight years. The annual survey was conducted in May this year and results were shared in June.
Dell calculates eNPS as the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors.It is based on responses from around 98,000 employees. For the year 2024, it dropped from 62 to 48.
Jenn Saavedra, Dell's Chief HR Officer, in an internal email addressing the results said that the eNPS was dropping across the industry and that Dell was "pleased to exceed the industry benchmark."
"You have 'told Dell,' and we are listening," Saavedra wrote in the email.