A couple of days ago, a rumour began circulating regarding BlackBerry’s workforce being cut down even further by an additional 2000 across the internet. I have received confirmation from BlackBerry which gives us a clear answer (sort of).
The rumour extended to even suggesting the entire developer team was being given the axe and some parts of engineering. I reached out to BlackBerry for a comment and this is what they had to say:
Nothing new, any headcount reductions we are making have already been disclosed previously”
Whilst I agree this could be interpreted in different ways, it does put to rest the rumour for now. Remember, John Chen, not too long ago just before he took the stage at Code Conference, he said there wouldn’t be any additional workforce slashes as that wasn’t the way forward, even if the Z3 didn’t perform as well as he would want it to (skip to 2.18 for workforce cuts).
Now, that interview was done on May 28th, 3 days before Q1 Fiscal 2015 ended and this is what BlackBerry will be reporting this coming Wednesday.
Is it possible John Chen took a look at the results and decided it was time to let some people go? Maybe. However, for him to decide 2 weeks before earnings calls and to out-rightly decline any suggestions to further workforce reductions 3 days prior to Q1 2015 ending would be a little out of touch from what we’ve seen from a guy like John Chen. It’s not like you make rash decisions like giving 2000 people the axe that easily, right?Â
Could there be further workforce reductions in the near future? Of course, that happens all the time. People leave, people get hired, some get the axe.
I could be wrong. On Wednesday, John Chen may very well announce the grim news that 2000 workers at BlackBerry are getting the axe, but for now, maybe until maybe Wednesday, the rumours regarding the additional 2000 job cuts is not true.