RIM Set To Cut 2,000 Jobs – Report

RIM today declined to comment on reports it is going to cut 2.000 more jobs, as the troubled BlackBerry maker looks to find the road to recovery.

The phone maker told TechWeekEurope it would not be commenting on rumour and speculation, pointing to its comments during its Q4 conference call. Back then, it said it would be “aggressively reshaping” the business, noting its financial performance would continue to be “challenging” over the next few quarters.

Several people close to the company told the Canadian news provider The Globe and Mail that RIM is getting ready for a significant restructuring that would begin in the next couple of weeks. The 2,000 jobs will be cut from different groups across the globe.

Axing on the sly?

One of the sources said the job losses may be even more severe. Patrick Spence stepped down as RIM’s global sales chief last week, indicating those at the top are not indispensable as the company makes significant changes.

“They’ve been axing people on the sly for months,” a former RIM executive said. “Lots of guys are being packaged out right now.”

RIM has had a difficult 12 months, in which its BlackBerry business has taken a beating from the likes of Apple and Samsung, who now dominate the smartphone space. The PlayBook did not fare too well either, as RIM was forced into cutting the prices of the tablet thanks to weak sales.

RIM currently employs 16,500 employees. If it did remove 2,000 from that workforce, it would be eliminating around an eighth, or approximately 13 percent, of its worker base.

It isn’t the only big tech player being forced into job cuts. Earlier this month, it emerged HP was to make 27,000 of its staff redundant, whilst RIM rival Nokia recently confirmed 1,000 jobs were to go in its home country Finland.

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