Dell has an incentive to stay.

• Position: Triad

Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines admits he's frustrated with one of Forsyth County's largest employers. He knows companies need to cut jobs in a downturn, but he says Dell Inc. should provide more details about the future of its local factory and how many it will employ. To get answers, he directed plant managers to appear before City Council this month.

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They might disappoint him. The Round Rock, Texas-based computer maker doesn't like discussing employment or wages even in good times. It asked the state to withhold that information five years ago, when it announced it would build the $115 million plant in exchange for as much as $280 million in state and local incentives. Now that times are tougher--net income fell 16% to $2.5 billion last year--it's hard to imagine the company opening up more.

Dell acknowledged two rounds of layoffs in March and April but wouldn't say how many workers were let go or how many remained. Joines says Dell cut about 150 employees in the first round and about 50 contract workers in the second. That leaves about 1,000 employees and 150 contract workers.

The plant must have 1,700 workers by October 2010, or Dell will have to return part of the $22.2 million in incentives it has received from the city and...