BlackBerry cuts another 300 jobs in Waterloo

For the second time this month, BlackBerry has announced 300 of its employees in Waterloo will be laid off as part of a wider effort to reduce costs and pare down the smartphone maker's global workforce by 4,500. 

BlackBerry announced broad-based layoffs were coming in September, amid slumping sales and a second-quarter loss of $965 million. 

"As previously mentioned, we are in a period of transition and we must focus on enhancing our financial results to be in a better position to compete in this current mobile environment," BlackBerry spokesperson Rebecca Freiburger wrote in an e-mail to CBC News. 

"As such, BlackBerry has implemented an ongoing workforce reduction," she wrote. "This week’s reduction includes approximately 300 in Waterloo."

"We recognize our local employees’ hard work on behalf of our company and the difficulty of this news. And we will do everything in our power to treat our employees with compassion, while offering support during this time of transition."

While BlackBerry is still trimming its costs, the former darling of the technology world has had some success lately with its BlackBerry Messenger service. 

The Waterloo smartphone maker boasted that its BBM app for Apple and Android had been downloaded 10 million times in the first 24 hours after its launch.