RIM to cut 2,000 jobs across global operations

[auntAgonist]

http://www.therecord.com/news/business/article/568622--rim-to-cut-2-000-jobs

WATERLOO — Research In Motion says it will cut about 11 per cent of its workforce this year, eliminating 2,000 jobs worldwide in an effort to save money amid an increasingly competitive smartphone and tablet market.

The Waterloo-based BlackBerry maker provided the details on Monday, about a month after first revealing it would reduce its workforce by an unspecified number of jobs.

The job cuts are the largest in the Canadian technology icon’s history and come after several years of rapid global growth and expansion.

“The workforce reduction is believed to be a prudent and necessary step for the long-term success of the company,” RIM said in a statement before stock markets opened for the week.

Job cuts RIM co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis, left, and Jim Balsillie, shown during the company's annual shareholders meeting in Waterloo on July 12.
Mathew McCarthy/Record staff