BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has announced another 2,000 job cuts from its 16,500 strong worldwide workforce as part of the firm's ongoing restructuring plans, according to Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail.
The paper said the job cuts "will sweep across departments, ranging from senior positions in RIM's legal division to human resources, finance, sales, and marketing" and those affected will be notified on June 1 (or earlier), the day before the Canadian phone maker's first quarter ends.
"They've been axing people on the sly for months," one former RIM executive said. "Lots of guys are being packaged out right now." It's believed that the final number could exceed 2,000 as the company pushes towards saving $1 billion a year. The news follows last year's axing of 2,000 jobs globally and across all areas of the company, which at the time was also labeled as a cost-cutting measure.
The layoffs pile on to what has already been a difficult year for the BlackBerry phone maker, which has suffered from decreasing sales and losing popularity among consumers and once loyal business users as they move to more innovative platforms provided by Android and Apple's iOS.
Now valued at around 10% of their 2008 stock price of $150, RIM's CEO faces a massive uphill battle to preserve what's left of his company's former glory, never mind overturn bad fortunes which has seen the PlayBook tablet spectacularly flop, and its phones bested by, well, pretty much everyone.
RIM didn't respond to requests for comment when contacted, but did direct the Inquirer to background information given during the latest financial report, which read "RIM is going through a significant transformation and our financial performance will continue to be challenging for the next few quarters."