PC maker Dell Inc. is releasing a large majority of its Ottawa employees and closing its new call centre on Solandt Road. The company has already begun dispensing pink slips, sending home about half of its roughly 1,200 employees and notifying remaining tech support staff that they will be gone by early July. Only about 100 sales staff will keep their positions within Dell’s Ottawa operations, but where they will be relocated once the call centre is shut down is not yet known. The closure is part of Dell's “company-wide efforts to increase the efficiency of its business, improve performance and provide better value for customers,” according to a recent news release. Local employees have reportedly been offered up to three months wages in severance pay.