After capturing BlackBerry's market share, it seems Apple also wants to grab a bite out of the ailing company's talent pool, at least, if a recent report is to be believed.
After BlackBerry announced the layoff of 40 percent of its employees, Apple organised a recruitment drive just 20 kilometres outside Waterloo, where BlackBerry is headquartered, as per a
report by the Financial Post.
The report informs that Apple invited candidates to a recruitment event it hosted at the Cambridge Hotel and Conference Centre, which is located on the outskirts of the Kitchener-Waterloo region, on September 26.
Apple sent invites for the event to select BlackBerry employees via the professional social network, LinkedIn. The invite mentioned that "Most positions would be based in Cupertino, CA.," and that "Relocation and immigration assistance would be provided for candidates that are hired, as needed."
AllThingsD has
obtained full text of Apple's recruitment message to BlackBerry employees:
If you are interested in working on the world's most advanced mobile devices and operating systems as well as alongside other amazing, talented and passionate engineers then Apple may have opportunities for you. Apple's Engineering and Operations Recruiting Team is hosting a career event in your town! We will have Hiring Managers and Recruiters present to talk about exciting opportunities throughout Apple.
The career event will be on Thursday, September 26th from 10 am to 2 pm, and from 3 pm to 7 pm. ... Please bring multiple copies of your resume on the day of the event as there may be a chance to speak with multiple hiring managers.
Most positions will be based in Cupertino, CA. Relocation and immigration assistance will be provided for candidates that are hired, as needed.
You can check out all Apple career opportunities by visiting www.apple.com/jobs. Thank you and we hope to see you in person Thursday, September 26th.
If you happen to know of others that might be interested in attending, please pass along this invite as we would love to meet them as well.
Warm Regards,
Apple's Recruiting Team
A separate
report by AllThingsD informs that seven members of The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), the Swedish design house acquired by BlackBerry to help develop BlackBerry 10, left the company and have found Topp, a new design group.
The report mentions that the seven members comprising James Haliburton, Anders Larsson, Roger Andersson Reimer, Anton Boman, Michael Winberg, Oscar Olivestedt and Marcus Eriksson, had played a major role in designing and developing the Waterloo giant's next generation operating system.
Earlier, Google-owned
Motorola Mobility also announced plans to set up a new hub in Waterloo, located about an hour's drive west of Toronto, and said that they wanted to hire new talent from the region.
BlackBerry
reported a nearly $1 billion quarterly loss, just a few days after it accepted its largest shareholder's tentative $4.7 billion bid to take it private. It had also
announced plans to lay off 4,500 employees, more than one-third of its workforce, and said that it would move its focus to corporate and government customers.