Why would a 50k reduction surprise anyone? Take a look at HP (or what's left of it), Cisco, Oracle, IBM, ... all have cut people by a significant amount. You take Dell and EMC - both large companies in their own right and with quite a bit of tech overlap. You also have redundant HR, Legal, Sales, Marketing, and so on. Admin (HR, Legal, ...) is an easy 10k right off the top. R&D will be next because Dell places no value in it. They aren't a tech company, they're a marketing company that sells tech and has good just in time manufacturing processes. Next, EMC has management (mgrs and directors of various flavors). Dell has the same but in a cult, you cull the outsiders. Now add the fact that Dell was looking to reduce its own size before the merger and you have a very large number just begging to get axed.