[codedivine]

Well, people are too quick to jump on any stories blasting RIM nowadays. We should rename HN to "Questionable Hacker Rumors".

For one, it is a rumor. Apple Insider isn't exactly known for well placed sources inside RIM.

Second, even if we were to take this at face value, read the text: "The layoffs will affect the company's legal, marketing, sales, operations, and human resources divisions, a source said." Not that engineering isn't mentioned. That is a good cutting of cruft.

[corin_]

This may go against what lots of tech. people like to think (it's certainly a much sexier idea to think of a good company as one run by and only employing hackers), but just for the record there are people in many departments, including legal, marketing, sales, operations and HR, who are both talented and useful at companies.

The fact that RIM clearly has a lot of cruft to cut doesn't mean that a.) that cruft is all, or even mostly, outside their technical staff or that b.) of the non-technical cruft, those getting fired are part of it.