BlackBerry Confirms Job Cuts At Waterloo HQ And Florida Manufacturing Facility

It looks like John Chen is swinging the axe at BlackBerry. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that it let go “a small number of employees… in Waterloo and Sunrise, FL”.

Update: BlackBerry updated its statement and now says 200 people were laid off.

This comes after a report by the Global And Mail that the befallen smartphone maker cut 75 jobs at its Florida manufacturing facility. Then, separately, MobileSyrup states BlackBerry is cutting 35% of its workforce in its Waterloo headquarters.

Official statement:

“As BlackBerry continues to execute its turnaround plan, we remain focused on driving efficiencies across our global workforce. This means finding new ways to enable us to capitalize on growth opportunities, while driving toward sustainable profitability across all parts of our business. As a result, approximately 200 employees have been impacted in Canada and Florida. It also means that BlackBerry is actively recruiting in those areas of our business that will drive growth. For those employees that have recently left the company, we know that they have worked hard on behalf of our company and we are grateful for their commitment and contributions.”

This cut shouldn’t come as a surprise. The company is still trying to find its footing. CEO John Chen stated in late 2015 that the company could stop manufacturing handsets. It previously stopped using its custom BlackBerry OS and instead adopted Android to power its latest phone, the BlackBerry Priv.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) stock is currently trading at $7.11, down 4% on the day, though it opened on the news that TD Securities gave the stock a C$9.00 price objective.