The ink was barely dry on Dell's acquisition of EMC, the largest technology deal ever, valued at $67 billion when it was announced in October last year – and already the layoff rumors are oozing from the woodwork.

"People familiar with the company's plans" told Bloomberg that Dell will cut 2,000 to 3,000 jobs.

Dell spokesman Dave Farmer refused to comment specifically on the report on Thursday but said instead, as sort of a confirmation: "As is common with deals of this size, there will be some overlaps we will need to manage and where some employee reduction will occur."

On Wednesday, the day the deal closed, CEO Michael Dell gave some clues in an interview: "There are some overlapping functions and that sort of thing – that's not the primary feature of this, but there is some of that."