The Layoffs Have Begun at BlackBerry

BlackBerry wasted little time in embarking on the layoffs it announced last month. On Monday, the company began handing out termination notices to 300 employees at its Waterloo, Ontario, headquarters.

“We are in a period of transition and we must focus on enhancing our financial results to be in a better position to compete in this current mobile environment,” BlackBerry said in a statement confirming the Waterloo cuts. “… We recognize our local employees’ hard work on behalf of our company and the difficulty of this news.”

Part of a broader restructuring plan intended to reduce expenditures by 50 percent by 2015, this week’s layoffs are the first phase of a purge that will see the struggling company sack some 4,500 employees. It’s not yet clear which of BlackBerry’s divisions have been impacted by the cuts, though a source close to the company describes them as “fairly broad.”

An ugly week for BlackBerry, with more of the same to come, as the foundering company struggles to optimize its resources in the hope that it will be taken private by Fairfax Financial in a $9-per-share deal or acquired by another interested buyer — should one emerge.

BlackBerry’s full statement on the cuts below: