As BlackBerry lays of 40% of workers, Apple sees opportunity to recruit talent

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014

Less than a week after BlackBerry announced plans to slash 40 percent of its workforce, Apple hosted a recruitment drive near the company's corporate headquarters in Canada.



 





Apple reportedly held the event to hire new talent on Sept. 26 in Waterloo, Ontario, according to the Financial Post. Invitations to the event were reportedly sent out by Apple to BlackBerry employees via the employment-focused social networking site LinkedIn.



In that note, Apple informed prospective employees that most of the jobs it is hiring for will be based out of its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters. The iPhone maker promised immigration assistance and relocation compensation for candidates that may be hired.



Just six days before — the same day Apple launched the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c — BlackBerry announced it would be laying off 40 percent of its workforce. A few days after that, BlackBerry revealed it had agreed to a $4.7 billion buyout from a Toronto holding company.



Apple isn't alone in looking to pick up potential talent from BlackBerry, as Intel also reportedly held a recruiting fair just a few days later.



Once virtually synonymous with the idea of mobile productivity, BlackBerry was slow to react to the emergence of competition from Apple's iPhone and other devices running Google's Android operating system. The years since its peak have seen BlackBerry, formerly known as Research in Motion, plummet in terms of both market share and revenue.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 44
    c4rlobc4rlob Posts: 277member
    Is only Apple left to hold up the American economy almost single-handedly now?
  • Reply 2 of 44
    reydnreydn Posts: 73member
    c4rlob wrote: »
    Is only Apple left to hold up the American economy almost single-handedly now?
    Lol! Don't they hold a tenth of all corporate cash in the US? Yeah, our government could learn a thing or three from this company (on how to generate money and value, not just borrow it)
  • Reply 3 of 44
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    c4rlob wrote: »
    Is only Apple left to hold up the American economy almost single-handedly now?

    Over exaggeration of the century?
  • Reply 4 of 44
    morkymorky Posts: 200member
    Good! Maybe Apple will start taking exchange support seriously.
  • Reply 5 of 44
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    Grab a few engineers maybe, but don't grab any management or upper management types, as Blackberry's management has got to be the biggest bunch of clueless morons ever.

  • Reply 6 of 44

    I hope  the Apple can get some of their good RF engineers.  BlackBerry phones still have some of the best cellular transceivers in the business.  Even with the new generation, you can place a call on a Z10 where the iPhone 5c or 5s has no service.

     

    I'm not sure how much success they'll have convincing engineers to move to the US though.  While Canadians generally have no problems with Americans, the current government fiasco over healthcare and the polarized politics have made it more difficult for us Canadians to take the country seriously.

  • Reply 7 of 44
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by therfman View Post

    I'm not sure how much success they'll have convincing engineers to move to the US though.  While Canadians generally have no problems with Americans, the current government fiasco over healthcare and the polarized politics have made it more difficult for us Canadians to take the country seriously.

     

    So let them stay up north and starve, their choice. They are not exactly essential. 

  • Reply 8 of 44
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by therfman View Post

     

    I hope  the Apple can get some of their good RF engineers.  BlackBerry phones still have some of the best cellular transceivers in the business.  Even with the new generation, you can place a call on a Z10 where the iPhone 5c or 5s has no service.


    True. But the iPhone's less than superior antenna is not a product of inferior engineering. It's one of the very few examples of form over function amongst Apple products.

  • Reply 9 of 44
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post

     

    Grab a few engineers maybe, but don't grab any management or upper management types, as Blackberry's management has got to be the biggest bunch of clueless morons ever.


    Easy to kick someone when they are down. When Apple was down, were their middle managers clueless morons? Well, some of those clueless morons are still at Cupertino and seemingly much more clued in.

  • Reply 10 of 44
    therfman wrote: »
    I'm not sure how much success they'll have convincing engineers to move to the US though.  While Canadians generally have no problems with Americans, the current government fiasco over healthcare and the polarized politics have made it more difficult for us Canadians to take the country seriously.

    Because Apple won't give them health insurance?
  • Reply 11 of 44
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    apple ][ wrote: »
    So let them stay up north and starve, their choice. They are not exactly essential. 
    Beat me to it!!????????
    I was about to say something about being hungry making the US look decent.
  • Reply 12 of 44
    Apple was down, were their middle managers clueless morons? Well, some of those clueless morons are still at Cupertino and seemingly much more clued in.

    ???
  • Reply 13 of 44
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by StruckPaper View Post

     

    Easy to kick someone when they are down. When Apple was down, were their middle managers clueless morons? Well, some of those clueless morons are still at Cupertino and seemingly much more clued in.


    I don't mind kicking people, regardless if they're down or not. As long as it's deserved, then they deserve to be kicked.

     

    And yes, Apple's bad period was due to bad management.

  • Reply 14 of 44
    therfman wrote: »
    I hope  the Apple can get some of their good RF engineers.  BlackBerry phones still have some of the best cellular transceivers in the business.  Even with the new generation, you can place a call on a Z10 where the iPhone 5c or 5s has no service.

    I'm not sure how much success they'll have convincing engineers to move to the US though.  While Canadians generally have no problems with Americans, the current government fiasco over healthcare and the polarized politics have made it more difficult for us Canadians to take the country seriously.

    You are a riot! Your country has screwed up their healthcare system so bad, my Mother's doctor left Ontario after seeing his patients die or become drug addicts while waiting for their appts with specialists that took over a year. By the time their appt was approaching, one patient had succumbed to his back injury and the other was addicted to pain killers.

    Add to the mix, Ted Cruz is Canadian. I would gladly trade him for a couple of engineers from Waterloo. At least they can get fired for not doing their job.

    Disclosure: like a lot of Americans, I blame both parties.
  • Reply 15 of 44
    Don't need to move to Cupertino. Just open an office in Canada and work from there.
  • Reply 16 of 44
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Easy to kick someone when they are down.
    It isn't a matter of kicking people when they are down, it is addressing real cultural issue that RIM has that would suggest that Apple would better off looking elsewhere for managers.
    When Apple was down, were their middle managers clueless morons?
    Actually many where, that is why Steve cleaned house when he retook control of Apple!
    Well, some of those clueless morons are still at Cupertino and seemingly much more clued in.

    Maybe a very few but Steve put his dream team in place and went to town restructuring Apple into a businesses that could survive until they could deliver new products.
  • Reply 17 of 44
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by HammerofTruth View Post

    You are a riot! Your country has screwed up their healthcare system so bad, my Mother's doctor left Ontario after seeing his patients die or become drug addicts while waiting for their appts with specialists that took over a year. By the time their appt was approaching, one patient had succumbed to his back injury and the other was addicted to pain killers.

    Yes... having read your little rant I can only deduce that the Canadian health care system is a mess and drives patients to drug addiction or death, and that the US health care system is much better, more efficient, fairer and doesn't drive people to drug addiction and death.

  • Reply 18 of 44
    pjapkpjapk Posts: 24member
    Apple might as well just buy RIM with the spare change from last weeks interest on their cash pile. I'm sure they won't miss it anyway...
  • Reply 19 of 44
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    You are a riot! Your country has screwed up their healthcare system so bad, my Mother's doctor left Ontario after seeing his patients die or become drug addicts while waiting for their appts with specialists that took over a year. By the time their appt was approaching, one patient had succumbed to his back injury and the other was addicted to pain killers.
    Our problem is that what was sold to many Americans is not what we got. That largely due to the fact that Democrats know they can't be honest with Americans as we would reject what they are really up to.
    Add to the mix, Ted Cruz is Canadian. I would gladly trade him for a couple of engineers from Waterloo. At least they can get fired for not doing their job.

    Disclosure: like a lot of Americans, I blame both parties.
    The current mess is 100% a creation of the Democrats, even big labor has seen the light in that regard. Obama won using a good old fashion bait and switch game, people are finally realizing that. That doesn't mean the Republicans have a good track record, but currently they are just responding to the demands of many Americans to check Obama.

    In any event back to Apples future Canadian employees. The problem isn't the countries state but rather the culture shock of going to work in the Bay Area. There are many things to adapt to from the earthquakes to vastly different climate to the overwhelming number of criminals from the south. Hell for most Americans California sucks as a state. So for transplants from Canada it won't be easy to adapt.

    I do hope the hired engineers ask for a huge pay raise because the other big problem for Apple in the Bay Area is cost of living.
  • Reply 20 of 44
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pjapk View Post



    Apple might as well just buy RIM with the spare change from last weeks interest on their cash pile. I'm sure they won't miss it anyway...

    Apple is not in the charity business, and Apple should not buy Blackberry, because it's not worth it.

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