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RIM 'reframing' to see 40% of workforce cut by early 2013

Chief Legal Officer Bawa departs

RIM 'reframing' to see 40% of workforce cut by early 2013
RIM is to cull up to 40 percent of its workforce in the coming months as CEO Thorsten Heins conducts what's being billed as a complete 'reframing' of the Canadian mobile giant.

As detailed by Reuters, the news comes as the firm's Chief Legal Officer – Karima Bawa – has announced her resignation, leaving RIM just days after head of global sales Patrick Spence also departed the BlackBerry manufacturer.

RIM revolution

According to IDC analyst Kevin Restiso, all such change is the result of Heins' redesire to reshape RIM's entire business, with the company having seen its market share eroded by both iOS and Android in recent years.

"Thorsten Heins is reframing the RIM organisation," Restivo told Reuters, suggesting the company isn't undergoing a steady transition, but rather enduring a full scale revolution.

"Not everyone will fit into the new picture.

"Departures, forced or otherwise, are inevitable anytime management sets a new course for an organisation."

Make or break

It's claimed the widescale reduction in RIM's workforce – expected to bring its global total down from 16,500 to around 10,000 by early 2013 – will impact several divisions, including legal, marketing, sales, operations and human resources.

Such changes come at a particularly sensitive time for RIM, however, with the company gearing up to launch its BlackBerry 10 handsets before the end of 2012.

With RIM's share price having fallen by 75 percent during the last year, many are pitching the launch of the new devices as a make or break moment.

Hit by Heins

Commentators are keen to suggest the departure of Bawa and Spence should not been seen as standard ins and outs following Heins' appointment, however.

Rather, a former RIM employee cited by Reuters claims Heins' mode of management is rubbing many of the big names at the company up the wrong way.

"Thorsten has a very different leadership style," said the employee, who it's claimed left several months ago.

"He is picking a very specific organisational structure, inner circle, external hires and strategy, and a lot of folks aren't 100 percent comfortable with it."

Heins was appointed as RIM's new CEO back in January, following the board's decision to dispose former joint CEOs and founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.

[source: Reuters]

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.