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Ever since Dell took itself private in a $24 billion plus deal late last year, folks have been waiting for the other shoe to drop — as in job cuts and other belt-tightening measures.

It looks like the wait is nearly over with The Register reporting that the PC-and-server maker plans to cut deep — up to 20 percent of U.S. staff and even deeper cuts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa or EMEA. Dell disputed the Register’s percentages but in a statement said it is always evaluating ways to boost “operational effectiveness and allocate” in ways that may affect its workforce.

Here’s a brief timeline:

In late October, Dell completed its $24.9-billion buyout to go private.

In November, it encouraged more of its 110,000 employees to work from home in what was positioned as move to retain key employees (and also a cost saving measure.)

Just before Christmas, it offered buyouts to some employees, according to the Wall Street Journal (registration required).

Dell, like hardware rivals HP(s hpq) and IBM(s ibm), is in the midst of a painful transition — it’s trying to offer more cloud computing and software services in a world where PC sales are hurting as more people use their tablets and phones as primary devices. It shelved plans for its own public cloud and instead is working with several other providers on that.

I’ve reached out to Dell for comment and will update this when I hear back.

On Thursday afternoon, a Dell spokeswoman sent the following familiar-sounding statement:

“Dell continuously evaluates and implements opportunities to improve our operational effectiveness and allocate our resources. When necessary, we’ll continue to make tough decisions to help ensure our long-term success – some of these decisions may affect our workforce. We are committed to building upon our multi-channel approach to serving customers – channel, online and direct – and are investing in sales coverage and training.

Note: this story was updated at 6:10 a.m. PST January 10 with Dell’s official statement.