Blackberry hit with layoffs

Troubled smartphone and software maker Blackberry is laying off workers including a long-time employee who created Blackberry Messenger software.

The company is laying off about 200 employees this month at its Sunrise. Fla. location and at the company's Waterloo, Ontario, Canada headquarters.

Among those leaving the headquarters are Gary Klassen, one of the company's principal architects and creator of Blackberry Messenger (BBM) and Blackberry Spark. Last year, BlackBerry said that more than 190 million people use BBM, the company's cross-platform instant messaging application.

Canadian tech news site Mobile Syrup had reported that layoffs in Ontario could approach 1,000 and amount to 35% of the company's workforce there. But Blackberry officials said that was not correct.

The company forwarded this statement via email: "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, a small number of employees have been impacted in Waterloo and Sunrise, FL. 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 latest bout of sobering news out of Waterloo comes about three months after BlackBerry introduced BlackBerry Priv, the company's first smartphone to run Google's Android operating system. Priv received mostly positive reviews but was never ever expected to lure anywhere near the number of buyers that BlackBerry phones commanded in their heyday.

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider