RIM announced today that in addition to some management changes, they are cutting about 2,000 employees from their workforce. We knew that some slimming down was on the way for RIM, but weren't sure of the exact number of employees that would be lost. More on the cuts and other "expense reductions" will be known after the RIM's next earnings call in mid-September.
"The workforce reduction is believed to be a prudent and necessary step for the long term success of the company and it follows an extended period of rapid growth within the company whereby the workforce had nearly quadrupled in the last five years alone."
Both Jim Balsille and Mike Lazaridis will retain their co-CEO positions for now however. Along with the cuts comes some movement among management positions at RIM as well. Just a few days ago RIM lost Ryan Bidan to Samsung, and RIM today has announced the retirement of their Chief Operating Officer Don Morrison as well. Keep reading for the full press release.
Research In Motion Provides Management Update and Details On Cost Optimization Program
WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 25, 2011) - Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today provided an update on changes in responsibilities amongst the company's senior management team, as well as additional details about the cost optimization program announced on June 16th. The changes described below are intended to create greater alignment of the organization and to streamline RIM's operations in order to better position the company for future growth and profitability.
Senior Management Update
Thorsten Heins is taking on the expanded role of COO, Product and Sales. All product engineering functions, including both hardware and software teams, are being consolidated under Thorsten's direction. This consolidation of product engineering functions is expected to both produce greater efficiencies and help to accelerate new product introductions in the future.
After more than ten years of success overseeing sales and country operations for RIM in various regions including North America, Asia Pacific and EMEA most recently, Patrick Spence is taking on the role of Managing Director, Global Sales and Regional Marketing. Patrick will report to Thorsten Heins and will work with Thorsten to tightly couple the execution of product development and regional business operations around the world, enable faster local execution tailored to local market needs and support the needs of RIM's valued operator and distribution partners.
Robin Bienfait is maintaining her responsibilities as CIO, including BlackBerry Operations, Customer Service and Corporate IT functions, and also taking on responsibility for the Enterprise Business Unit focused on delivering outstanding customer service and extending RIM's leadership in the enterprise sector.
David Yach, in his role as CTO, Software, will focus on current and future software platforms, as well as the surrounding developer and application ecosystem.
Jim Rowan is taking on the expanded role of COO, Operations and will continue to be responsible for manufacturing, global supply chain and repair services. As part of the streamlining effort and drive towards greater operational efficiencies, he will also now oversee the Organizational Development and Facilities Management functions.
Brian Bidulka, RIM's CFO, is working together with Jim Rowan in overseeing the Cost Optimization Program which is currently underway.
Cost Optimization Program
In addition to the management changes outlined above, RIM today provided further details on its cost optimization program, which is focused on eliminating redundancies and reallocating resources to focus on areas that offer the highest growth opportunities and alignment with RIM's strategic objectives. The workforce reduction is believed to be a prudent and necessary step for the long term success of the company and it follows an extended period of rapid growth within the company whereby the workforce had nearly quadrupled in the last five years alone.
As part of this broad effort, RIM is reducing its global workforce across all functions by approximately 2,000 employees. RIM intends to notify impacted employees in North America and certain other countries this week. The remainder of the global workforce reductions will occur at a later date subject to local laws and regulations. All impacted employees will receive severance packages and outplacement support.
The size of this workforce reduction is in line with the preliminary estimate that was factored into RIM's full year financial guidance on June 16, 2011. Following the completion of the workforce reduction, RIM's global workforce is expected to be approximately 17,000 people. Additional information about the financial impact of this workforce reduction and other operating expense reductions will be communicated when the company reports Q2 results on September 15, 2011. As explained on June 16, 2011, any one-time charges associated with the cost optimization program are not included in RIM's Q2 and full year outlook, but will be identified and disclosed on September 15, 2011.
Read more
Research In Motion vs. BlackBerry - Which name is better?
A few days ago, BlackBerry CEO John Chen sat down with Bloomberg to discuss his briefings with the White House, MDM and most notable for this post, the changing of the company name from Research In Motion to BlackBerry. Chen noted he liked the name Research In Motion better but alas, was not there when the change over happened so he wasn't able to weigh the pros and cons of it all....
Goodbye RIMM, Hello BBRY! - Research In Motion ticker change happens Monday, February 4th
Although it was only announced at the BlackBerry 10 launch event in NYC, the formal name change from Research In Motion to BlackBerry has been happening rather quickly. In fact, the changes have already started in Waterloo as the old signage is being replaced and new BlackBerry logos are going up. No transition like this is fully complete though, until the stock ticker name changes over...
Research In Motion rebranded to BlackBerry
Thorsten Heins has just announced on stage at the BlackBerry 10 launch event that Research In Motion will now be called simply BlackBerry. One brand, one promise. -Thorsten Heins Re-designed, Re-engineered, Re-invented. Awesome! Full press release below. Research In Motion Changes Its Name to BlackBerry Company adopts globally recognized brand, consolidates to single...
Highlights from the opening of RIM's Tech Centers in Brazil
Back in December RIM opened a Tech Center in Brazil. The tech center is part of the BlackBerry Academic Program and while we posted on the launch of one tech center opening, two centers at two universities were actually launched in the country - Federal University of Algaos (UFAL) and Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). You'll remember that RIM also opened a Tech Center in the U....