BlackBerry to cut 4500 jobs

BlackBerry announced it will cut 4500 jobs in an attempt to reduce operating expenditure, and that it expects a net operating loss of about $1 billion this quarter.

The 4500 positions to be cut equates to about 40% of the company’s workforce, which currently sits at around 11,500 people.

The news of the cuts came in a Q2 fiscal 2014 results announcement, which also revealed that the company expects a net operating loss of approximately US$950 million to US$995 million ($1 billion to $1.1 billion) this quarter.

A large portion of that figure - US$930 million to US$960 million - comes from a charge against inventory and supply commitments, which the company says is “primarily attributable” to its Z10 devices.

The company said the job cuts are part of a wider initiative to reduce operating expenditures by about 50% by the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2015.

Thorsten Heins, BlackBerry’s president and CEO, said in a statement, “We are implementing the difficult, but necessary, operational changes announced today to address our position in a maturing and more competitive industry, and to drive the company toward profitability.

“Going forward, we plan to refocus our offering on our end-to-end solution of hardware, software and services for enterprises and the productive, professional end user. This puts us squarely on target with the customers that helped build BlackBerry into the leading brand today for enterprise security, manageability and reliability.”

The confirmation of the cuts came just days after the Wall Street Journal reported that up to 40% of the company’s employees would be cut.

According to the WSJ’s sources, the layoffs will affect all departments and will occur in waves.

As part of its “focus on enhancing its financial results”, the company said it will transition its future smartphone portfolio from six devices to four, focusing on enterprise and prosumer-centric targeted devices.

The company also said it “continues to see increasing penetration of [BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10] with more than 25,000 commercial and test servers installed to date, compared to 19,000 in July 2013.”

Pictured: BlackBerry's Z10 device