WSJ: BlackBerry expected to cut up to 40 percent of its workforce by year's end

BlackBerry hasn't been hiding the fact that it's cutting back on its workforce, but a new report from The Wall Street Journal today suggests that another particularly big round of layoffs could be in store. Citing people familiar with the matter, the paper says that the company is preparing to cut up to 40 percent of its workforce by the end of the year, with the layoffs expected to "cut across all departments" and "occur in waves." As the WSJ notes, the most recent tally of employees the company has disclosed is 12,700, which is already down from 17,000 two years ago.

This latest news also comes after an report earlier this month that at least some BlackBerry board members are pushing for a speedy sale of the company, which reportedly could happen as early as November. For its part, BlackBerry isn't commenting on the specific number of layoffs, telling the WSJ only that "organizational moves will continue to occur to ensure we have the right people in the right roles to drive new opportunities in mobile computing."