RIM slashes jobs

Troubled BlackBerry maker RIM will slash at least 2000 jobs globally in an effort to cut costs.

The major restructure is the second for the company in a year. RIM last July announced it would cut 11 percent, or 2000 jobs, from its global workforce.

The layoffs could affect up to 6000 of RIM’s 16,500 worldwide employees, reports Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.

The job cuts are expected to come into effect on June 1, ahead of the company’s first quarter end. Staff across RIM’s legal, marketing, sales, operations and human resources divisions will be the hardest hit, reports Reuters. 

RIM last month reported a massive $US2.2 billion ($A2.1 billion) drop in net profit for its 2012 financial year.

Its smartphone sales continued to suffer in the last quarter, with shipments down 25 percent from the 14.1 million shipped in the third quarter to 11.1 million. 

CEO Thorsten Heins last month said the BYOD trend was threatening RIM’s traditional enterprise smart phone user base.

He indicated RIM would undertake a “substantial change” in focus to regain some of its lost territory in this crucial market.

"The impression I had after two days as CEO is very different from the impression - not the impression, the facts - I discovered after being here for 10 weeks as CEO," Heins said. "I am convinced that substantial change is what we need."

RIM is pinning its hopes on the upcoming release of its new BlackBerry 10 mobile OS, which boasts better security and management features as the company strives to shore up support within business markets.

"We plan to refocus on the enterprise business and capitalise on our leading position in this segment," Heins stressed.

"We believe that BlackBerry cannot succeed if we tried to be everybody's darling and all things to all people.”

Investors reacted negatively to the announced job cuts, with RIM's shares stock dropping around 4 percent to $C10.98 ($A10.90) on the Toronto Stock Exchange, a multi-year low.