RIM firing employees to compensate for the losses incurred

Research In Motion or more commonly known as RIM is going through a downfall of sorts. This company is known for its BlackBerry range of handsets which have been widely popular over the years, and still are to some extent.

But with other platforms rapidly making progress, some feel that RIM has been very slow in terms of OS development. Today, the name of the game is applications and functionalities. Sure, BlackBerry phones provided the best email support some years ago, but is that the only thing that a user asks for today? Well, the answer is no. With the arrival of platforms like iOS, Android, WP7 and some others, the BlackBerry OS is having a tough time. Whereas Nokia has made some efforts to improve the Symbian platform which is having its own problems and it has been successful to some extent.

RIM recently announced its first quarter earnings, where they mentioned that staff layoffs will be made, but failed to mention the actual number of workers that will be losing their jobs. And acting on that, the company started sending in layoff notices to its employees since yesterday.

RIM has a total employee strength of 17,500 around the globe. And to add to RIM’s woes, its shares are rapidly falling which is resulting in people showing less faith in the company. And with no new devices launching, BlackBerry would be looking at a way to balance the payroll of its employees, which can only be achieved through staff layoffs.

RIM is expecting a lot from the new range of smartphones that they will be offering. The BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900 which will feature BlackBerry OS 7 is one of them. This phone along with some other devices lined up for launch, could be BlackBerry’s last hope as some say.If not, it will soon be tumbled over by WP7 as the third best platform. Well, looking at the past year’s performance, one would think it’s inevitable.