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BlackBerry starts layoff process at Waterloo office

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WATERLOO, Ont. (NEWS1130) – BlackBerry has started the process of handing out pink slips to hundred of employees at its Waterloo office, as part of the company’s latest restructuring efforts.

BlackBerry confirms to News1130’s sister station, 570News in Kitchener, that layoff notices are going out to 300 employees this week, with some of them already given notice on Monday.

It’s part of a worldwide workforce reduction of 4,500 employees announced in September.

A source told the Financial Post, the job cuts will hit a number of departments, including enterprise and design.

Shares of BlackBerry rose by four per cent on Monday and went higher by another one per cent on Tuesday morning on reports the smartphone maker is in talks with Cisco Systems, Google and SAP, looking for a competing offer to the $4.7-billion dollar bid from Fairfax Financial — that deal that is still subject to financing.

While BlackBerry has been scaling back in Waterloo, other companies like Google and a mobile payments start-up launched by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, are expanding and picking up some of the technology talent.

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