KUALA LUMPUR--US computer giant Dell will cut 700 jobs in Malaysia as it looks to slash costs, newspaper reports said Wednesday.

The company said the affected workers from its plant in northern Penang state would leave Dell between January and June next year, through a voluntary separation scheme (VSS), the Star and New Straits Times reported.

The move will see Dell's workforce in Malaysia reduced to 3,800. The company has another support centre in Cyberjaya, a high-tech hub south of Kuala Lumpur.

Spokeswoman Jasmine Begum said the layoffs were a result of the Penang plant stopping production of notebooks for Latin America, Canada and US markets, the reports said.

The company will continue making products for South Asian and Australian markets.

Affected workers "will be given competitive VSS packages. We will also provide them with career counselling and outplacement services," the Dell official told the Star.
Company officials could not be reached for comment.

Dell began operating in Malaysia in 1995 with a manufacturing and direct-sales business but now produces desktops, workstations, notebooks, servers and storage products in Penang.

In 2007, it launched its first global IT support centre outside of the US in Cyberjaya.