RIM stays shtum over job cut speculation

BlackBerry maker rumoured to be axing up to 2,000 of its global staff next month

RIM is remaining tight-lipped over rumours that it is to slash up to 2,000 jobs as part of a global restructuring exercise.

Reports about the BlackBerry maker, which has about 16,500 employees, first appeared on Canadian site The Globe and Mail.

The job cuts are rumoured to be planned for around 1 June – a day before RIM’s Q1 end.

Earlier this year the vendor saw a boardroom shuffle as co-chief executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie resigned and Thorsten Heins was taken on as president and CEO.

A RIM representative told CRN the vendor’s policy is not to comment on "rumours and speculation", but instead pointed us towards comments made by executives on its recent Q4 conference call.

In it the company said its financial performance will continue to be challenging for the next few quarters as it goes through a significant transformation; it also said it would be aggressively reshaping the organisation for increased accountability and efficiency.