Research in Motion said it will cut 2,000 jobs (approximately 11% of the company's workforce) and reorganize upper management.

The company's COO Don Morrison will retire, and Thorsten Heins will take over the expanded role of COO, product and sales.

The move comes after weak financial results in Q1 and an even worse outlook for the future. As a result of the bleak Q1 report, RIM's shares took a beating, dropping 20% overnight.

Once a dominant force in the smartphone market, RIM recently fell to third place behind Apple's iOS and Google's Android. The imminent layoffs are necessary to keep the company financially sound, but RIM will have to rethink its entire smartphone and tablet strategy to catch up with its rivals.