RIM begins laying off workers

In a move that has been a long time coming, RIM has further culled its numbers, dismissing 2000 employees in the latest round of layoffs. This drops RIM’s overall employee ranks to 14,500. Considering that they employed around 20,000 workers during the peak of their powers, this is a sombre figure.

RIM have been open about the company’s desperate need to cut down on operating costs as they struggle to keep their heads above water in a smartphone market that seems to be leaving them behind.

A RIM spokesperson said in a statement to The Record:

“RIM has committed to achieving significant efficiencies and operating cost reductions over the course of this fiscal year. Headcount reductions are part of this initiative.”

The areas most affected by the layoffs are sales and manufacturing, with analysts predicting that RIM’s total workforce will drop to around 10,000 by the end of the year.

The current line of Blackberry phones has fallen behind the competition in terms of both innovation and popularity. However, the Canadian manufacturer will be hoping that their upcoming Blackberry 10 OS and the subsequent handsets that it will run on will go some way to restoring RIM as a major player in the smartphone game.