Layoffs – perhaps as many as 300 and as early as tomorrow – are rumoured to be on the way at Dell Inc.'s Ottawa operations.

Dell has also officially put its second building, the 150,000-square-foot edifice at 1001 Farrar Rd., on the sublease market.

Allegations of impending layoffs have been swirling in Ottawa for weeks, but picked up steam Tuesday with news that every member of Dell's management team was called in for an unusual 2 p.m. meeting Tuesday, a source at Dell told the OBJ today.

In addition, all of Dell's security guards are being asked to report for duty Wednesday, another apparent oddity. Overnight security guards scheduled for shifts tonight are being asked to work an additional four hours tomorrow, while day staff are expected to arrive at their usual start times, meaning more guards than usual will be on hand for the morning tomorrow.

"(Dell) is getting all the guards to work on Wednesday," another source told the OBJ. "There are rumours going around that there will be massive layoffs that day."

Local Dell officials did not answer repeated requests from the OBJ for an interview.

Some chat room participants have predicted 200 to 300 layoffs locally, and a source at the company told the OBJ that as many as half of the technical support staff of 600 could be getting pink slips tomorrow.

The Round Rock, Texas-based company is under intense pressure from rivals, the slumping U.S. economy and the rising loonie. After Hewlett-Packard, it is the world's second-largest personal computer maker.

In January, it cut 100 Ottawa staff and announced it was aborting its local expansion to 1001 Farrar Rd.

Since last week, the computer giant is looking to sublease the 150,000-square-foot building that was once set to be the home of its high-end-client call centre - namely, purchasers of Dell's XPS gaming systems.

The building was due to open as early as this month, but Dell is now working with broker CB Richard Ellis to find a subleasor. The first two floors of the building are wired up to be a fully functioning call centre operation, while the third floor is said to still awaiting completion.

Also in January, Dell announced the closure of its 155,000-square-foot Edmonton call centre, which employed 900 workers, and added that it was closing 140 mall kiosks in the U.S. in favour of partnerships with retailers such as Wal-Mart.

On March 31, Dell added it would close its 900-employee desktop computer-manufacturing plant in Austin, part of its plans to chop 10 per cent of its total head count.

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