Research In Motion, maker of the Blackberry and Playbook devices announced a major layoff this morning as they plan to cut 2,000 jobs or 11% of their workforce as part of its cost cutting strategy. It is no secret that RIM has been having its share of troubles, the Playbook isn’t quite commanding the market share they would like to see, key employees are leaving for the competition and the stock has taken a nose dive. While some attribute their problems to an “old boys club” type of mentality with many of them stuck in a world that has evolved and surpassed the original idea of what RIM was when it first launched. Don Morrison, Chief Operating Office will retire after ten years of service to RIM, and Thorsten Heins will take over the expanded role of COO, product and sales.
So is this purge of employees a good or bad thing? Perhaps this is part of where RIM will re-invent itself and come back looking tall and proud as a leading Canadian technology company, one who innovates and sets the bar for others to follow.
Their new operating system QNX is a big part of the future of Research In Motion and they have bet the farm on on its success as all future Blackberry devices as of 2012 will be built on the OS and the Playbook is already using it. They also continue to spend money, last week they acquired UK-based JayCut for an undisclosed sum.