Blackberry is about to suffer a huge reduction in its workforce – the smartphone company has revealed its intentions to rid itself of 40% of its employees by the end of 2013.
The news comes following yesterday’s announcement of the new Z30 yesterday. Blackberry has been struggling to keep up with its competitors for the past few years, with an initial round of cut-backs last year removing 5000 jobs. Currently operating with around 12,700 employees (although recent cuts to R&D will again make that number smaller), this move would see the company drop back to under 8,000 jobs. Losses will affect each department of the company, which is currently at risk of being sold off by November.
But don’t count the company out just yet; the Ontario-based outlet is undoubtedly pinning its hopes on the Z30, which is another member of the BB10 range. On top of that, the Blackberry messenger will be launching this weekend of both Android and iOS, as we reported this morning.
We talked a bit about the demise of Blackberry on yesterday’s first (sort of) What Mobile Podcast. You can find that here.
Source: Wall Street Journal via Digital Trends