Oct. 9--The question is purely economical, but these days, it could easily pass as the title of a country song.

Is there room for a blue-collar worker in this brave new world?

About 900 Dell Inc. employees would like an answer, given that the Forsyth County plant -- a $115 million symbol of job security when it opened in October 2005 -- will be closing by Jan. 20. About 600 employees are expected to be let go by Nov. 18.

"When I got hired by Dell, I thought I was good to go for a long while," a shipping employee said yesterday. "It's just sad it's not going to work out that way."

The employee, like all others approached for comment, declined to be identified. They said they had been told by Dell officials that their severance package, ranging from eight to 12 weeks of pay and other benefits, would be terminated if they spoke with the media.

In the hours since their hopes were punctured like a balloon, many Dell employees and contract workers appeared to be going through the five stages of grief and acceptance at the same blistering pace at which desktop computers were assembled.

Employees sensed last winter that their jobs were vulnerable as more production was shifted to Mexico. Then there were three layoffs affecting a combined 310 employees, although some were brought back to handle end-of-quarter production pushes.

At its peak, there were about 1,150 full-time Dell employees and 250 contract and supplier workers in the plant. Most production workers made $9.50 to $14 an hour, with many in the lower-to-middle range of that scale.

"I understand Dell's making a business decision," the employee said. "It feels like it's made its money here and now can make these computers cheaper somewhere else.

"Still, they are a lot of people being hurt by this decision, and Dell needs to live up to its local commitments all the way through."

Dell told Allen Joines, the mayor of Winston-Salem, that it would repay the $15.5 million in city incentives as it is obligated to do in the incentives contract. Joines said that Dell has 30 days after the plant closes to refund the money.

Some local officials are skeptical about whether Dell will honor that commitment without legal action.

City Manager Lee Garrity said that $6 million of the money would have to be used to pay back debt that the city took on associated with the project. "What the mayor has asked is that we first see what kind of benefits will come from Dell and will come from the state before we see if there some gaps that the city might want to look at filling," he said.