RIM cuts staff by 10 percent
Published: 12 Nov 2002 16:18 GMT
Research In Motion is laying off 10 percent of its workforce in a bid to cut costs and streamline operations, the company said Tuesday.
RIM, which makes the popular BlackBerry handheld device, said the layoffs would help it trim costs. Although the company expects to take a pretax charge of $8m to $9m in the third quarter, the cuts should save the company $20m to $25m.
RIM had 2,200 employees worldwide at the beginning of November.
"In order to solidify our position and achieve our financial targets, we are moving ahead with a difficult, yet strategically important, decision to tighten operational efficiencies and adjust our current staffing level," co-chief executive Jim Balsillie said in a release. "We believe this streamlining will prove to be a prudent move for RIM in both the near term and the long term."
In its most recent quarter, RIM lost $14.3m, or 18 cents per share, on sales of $73.4m. The company is pushing several new product launches, and warned analysts that the launches could hurt sales.
Last month, RIM released new BlackBerry handhelds that can move among next-generation networks in Europe, Asia and North America. In addition, it recently signed licensing deals with Nokia, Palm and Handspring.
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