RIM to cut workforce by 11%

The maker of the once ubiquitous Blackberry has announced it will cut 2000 jobs, or 11% of its global workforce, in an effort to streamline its operations and arrest its plummeting share price.

Research In Motion says in a press release that affected workers in North America and ‘certain other countries’ will be notified this week, with redundancies around the rest of the world to follow subject to local laws and regulations.

The cuts follow disappointing quarterly results that led to a dramatic drop in RIM’s share price.

"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,” the RIM release reads.

"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 has nearly quadrupled in the last five years alone.”

A management reshuffle will also be implemented as part of the streamlining measures.