RIM marketers face axe

Several marketing roles could be at risk following BlackBerry maker Research in Motion’s (RIM) latest round of job cuts, which could see the loss of more than 2,000 staff across the business.

Blackberry

The impending layoffs, which could potentially affect up to 6,000 staff according to reports, are likely to hit RIM’s marketing, legal, sales, operations and human resources divisions. Reports suggest the full extent of the lay offs will be announced this Friday (1 June).

The company already shed 2,000 members of staff last summer.

A RIM spokeswoman declined to comment on “rumours and speculation”.

RIM posted a net loss of $125m (£78.5m) in its latest fiscal quarter. In its results announcement the company said it planned to “aggressively reshape the organisation for increased accountability and efficiency” as it looks to save $1bn (£636m) this fiscal year.

In the same announcement, RIM’s chief executive Thorsten Heins, said BlackBerry was to tailor its brand to focus on its core audience of business people after failing to compete with rivals such as Apple and Samsung.

BlackBerry launched a multimillion pound brand campaign earlier this month in a bid to restore its “relevancy” and appeal to “people of action”.

This month the company also appointed former Orange and Vodafone marketer Frank Boulben as chief marketing officer to oversee RIM’s global marketing strategy, including activity around the launch of its long-awaited BB10 operating system.

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