RIM cutting jobs in 'batches'
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) is reportedly cutting jobs in "batches", in a bid to save as much as $1 billion by the end of the current fiscal year.
No more than a year after the Ontario-based company cut 2000 jobs, it looks to shed another 2000 jobs from non-essential departments in the coming weeks and months, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The beleaguered developer is laying off batches of 10 people at a time, across various sections of the company — including quality control, operations and parts departments — according to those affected who spoke to the Journal.
The company's first-quarter results are out on 28 June, where RIM is expected to announce an operating loss, following a fourth-quarter that saw a loss of US$125 million and a 25 per cent drop in revenue.
RIM said that it sought assistance from banks JP Morgan and RBC Capital to review the company's performance.
A RIM spokesperson said that the company had "reduced some positions as part of this program and may continue to do so, as the company methodically works through a review of the business".
All hands on deck for BlackBerry 10. If you're not in it to win it, you're out. Anyone not focusing on BlackBerry 10 — the next-generation operating system that RIM is hedging its bets on — faces the chop, according to sources close to the company.
However, RIM runs the risk of alienating other parts of its business by cutting anyone out who is not in the BlackBerry 10 loop, should the company choose to seek a buyer.
BlackBerry 10 is expected to launch in, or around, October.
Via ZDNet US