RIM to cut 2 000 jobs, COO to retire

RIM said it is planning to cut 2,000 jobs across its global workforce as part of a ‚cost optimisation programme,‚ with Don Morrison, its COO also set to retire.

According to the company, it is making the cuts to eliminate redundancies and reallocate its resources to ‚focus on areas that offer the highest growth opportunities and alignment with RIM’s strategic objectives.‚ Affected employees in North America and ‚certain other countries‚ will be notified this week: the remaining cuts will be made ‚at a later date subject to local laws and regulations.‚ After the cuts, it will have around 17,000 staff. In a statement, the company noted that the reductions are in-line with its plans as announced on 16 June 2011, when it announced that it had seen a fall in profits in its latest financial quarter. The company will discuss the financial implications on 15 September 2011, in line with its Q2 results release.

The management of RIM have been under pressure in recent months, with calls that it should split its chairman and CEO roles, which are both jointly held by Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis. According to a recent Bloomberg report, the company has been given six months to prove the need for this structure. In line with the anticipated departure of COO Morrison, who is currently away from RIM on medical leave, the company has re-shuffled its executive team. Thorsten Heins is to become COO, product and sales, with ‚all product engineering functions, including both hardware and software teams‚ being consolidated under his direction. Jim Rowan will become COO, operations, with continued responsibility for manufacturing, global supply chain and repair services. Patrick Spence is to become MD of global sales and regional marketing, having held a number of positions for RIM in North America, Asia Pacific and EMEA. CIO Robin Bienfait has take on responsibility for RIM’s Enterprise Business Unit alongside her existing responsibilities. And David Yach, CTO, software, will ‚focus on current and future software platforms, as well as the surrounding developer and application ecosystem.‚

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