WATERLOO: BlackBerry Ltd. fired about 200 employees in Florida and Ontario as the smartphone and software maker continues its efforts to trim costs.
The job cuts include 75 people at its location in Sunrise, Fla., according to information posted by the state’s Department of Economic Opportunity on its website. BlackBerry had 6,225 employees in February 2015, the company said in a filing at the time. Since then, it has fired workers, but also gained some in its acquisition of Good Technology Corp.
“As BlackBerry continues to execute its turnaround plan, we remain focused on driving efficiencies across our global workforce,” the company said in an e-mail. “As a result, approximately 200 employees have been impacted in Canada and Florida.”
BlackBerry is working to make itself profitable over the long term by building up the software business and cutting costs as smartphone sales continue to shrink.
The Waterloo, Ont.- based company pivoted to making phones with Google’s Android operating system instead of its own BB10 operating system last year.
