WATERLOO, Ont. - BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is ushering in thousands of new employees this year, hoping to gain an edge over its competitors by hiring tech gurus laid off by others in slower parts of the technology sector.
The Waterloo, Ont.-based company has emerged as one of the rare Canadian companies actually growing operations during the economic downturn, with plans to add about 3,000 new workers in 2009 and increase its workforce to about 15,000.
Founder and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said his company isn't battening down the hatches as it weathers the recession, but rather looking for ways to grow the company.
`This is the easiest time to say `I have to be very careful and wind down my investments,"' he said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
But "this is the exact time to invest -- if you can -- because not only is there opportunity, but there are lots of resources out there."
Such an optimistic tone by one of Canada's best-known technology companies helps mute out some of the recessionary drumbeats that have intensified in recent months as the economy sheds hundred of thousands of jobs.
On Friday, Statistics Canada is set to report a likely jump in the current 7.2 per cent jobless rate for February, after 213,000 lost jobs since November that pushed unemployment up a full percentage point. Many economists predict Canada's jobless rate could approach nine per cent before a recovery expected next year.
RIM is joined in its optimism by a handful of other Canadian tech firms such as Open Text Corp. (TSX:OTC) -- the country's largest publicly traded software company -- and mobile software firm Bridgewater Systems (TSX:BWC).
It's an unusual outlook in a climate that has seen many global technology giants that once seemed invincible dramatically slash jobs to stay afloat.
Nokia, the world's biggest cellphone manufacturer, eliminated about 1,200 jobs were last year, while rival Sony-Ericsson dashed 2,000 positions. Microsoft plans to slash about five per cent of its workforce, or 5,000 positions, over the next 18 months.
And former Canadian technology giant Nortel Networks (TSX:NT) continues to shed jobs, most recently axing 3,200 employees, as it restructures under bankruptcy protection.
The rush of layoffs is flooding the market with technology veterans as well as fresh-faced graduates -- and both could prove especially lucrative for the companies that have cash to hire them.
Last year, RIM expanded its workforce by 50 per cent, hiring about 4,000 employees. Then, co-CEO Jim Balsillie shocked many observers earlier this year when he revealed another 3,000 new job openings as the company grows globally.
Hopeful applicants rushed their resumes to the company's human relations offices, and while RIM declines to quantify the surge, it said the company has seen "a significant increase in job applications over the past few months" from all regions, including Canada.
`It really is a natural phenomenon as we sign on more carriers, and produce new products," Balsillie said.
Robert McWhirter, president of technology analysis firm Selective Asset Management Inc. says smart companies have learned from the tech-bubble burst around the turn of the millennium and were prepared for the unpredictable economy this time.
`They've already gone through seven years of these Slim-fast diet plans," he said.
`A combination of both significant cash generation plus, in many cases, significant cash on the shelf, is an advantage for these companies."
Software company Open Text , also based in Waterloo, has been pushing to hire more than 200 workers this year, said Nicholas Oddson, senior vice president of research and development.
`I've got job offers going out pretty much every other day," Oddson said, noting that the company has received almost 7,000 resumes from around the world.
`We're always interested when the big international companies do some restructuring. If there are people restructured out of Microsoft, I'm interested in that."
And Bridgewater Systems, a mobile software services company based in Ottawa, is anticipating a wave of hiring throughout the year.
President and chief executive Ed Ogonek said the plan will boost its 200-person workforce by up to 10 per cent this year, though most jobs will be in growth areas like Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
`What we see in our service areas, in particular relative to mobile data, is continued growth," said president and chief executive Ed Ogonek in an interview.
Ogonek said the company expects net earnings to double, and revenue to grow between 18 and 31 per cent.
Growth is also a key focus at RIM, where the company celebrated the 10th anniversary of the BlackBerry by shipping its 50 millionth smartphone into the market in January, and debuts its new online application store this spring.
The company expects to exceed $10 billion in revenue when reports its fiscal results on April 2, though executives have remained cautious about how much they can expect as consumer spending wavers.
However, smartphones appear to have the upperhand as traditional mobile phones lose their appeal to new phone buyers, partly because they don't have enhanced email and web browsing capabilities.
According to market research firm IDC, shipments of smartphone devices worldwide will rise 8.9 per cent in 2009 over last year, while traditional mobile phone sales are expected to decline 3.5 per cent.
Lazaridis remains confident the growth will be reflected in RIM's results this year.
`Even if the market slows down, the opportunity is still there to sell a lot of smartphones because people are going to upgrade," he said.
`We don't believe in step functions in business. We believe things grow -- they have a growth rate -- and you have to be prepared to deal with that."
Part of the plan includes moving forward with a hiring streak for positions across the company, from engineering to global supply chain management, accounting and sales, Lazaridis said.
RIM has the advantage of having its headquarters across the street from the University of Waterloo, one of North America's best-known technology schools and also one of RIM's biggest co-op partners.
Last year, RIM said it employed about 1,800 co-op students in 2008 from both Canadian and international schools, with a good portion of those students migrating from the local university.
The company has pledged that about 10 per cent of its workforce should be co-op students, and partnered with the university on an expansive "try before you buy" program, according to Peggy Jarvie, executive director of career services at the University of Waterloo.
Under the plan, RIM funnels in Waterloo students who are earning credits for through a co-op program, trains them, and then hires the ones that fit best with the company.
Jarvie said that RIM has remained consistent on its student co-op hiring while other tech companies have scaled back their programs because of the economy.
`We have every reason to believe that their hiring will continue in the usual strong way," she said.
However, RIM isn't without its challenges, and several questions still remain unanswered for the company, said Duncan Stewart, director of research and analysis at DSam Consulting.
First, is whether the company will remain victorious in the business sector, where the BlackBerry is affectionately referred to as the "CrackBerry" for its essential, albeit addictive qualities.
Analysts have questioned whether the downfall of Wall Street's financial institutions would spell trouble for the company, but so far the company has been resilient.
RIM also has the challenge of staying relevant to consumers where it's contending with tighter spending and a market with an increasing number of smartphone alternatives like the iPhone and Nokia's line of similar products.
Last month, RIM reined in its fourth-quarter profit expectations to the lower end of its guidance of between 83 and 91 cents US earnings per share.
Revenue is expected to be at the mid-point of previously announced expectations of between US$3.3 billion and $3.5 billion.
Lazaridis remains confident RIM is doing the right thing by expecting further growth. He likened the confidence to RIM's entrepreneurial roots, when some critics questioned the widespread success of the smartphone, but sales persevered.
`The stereotype of the entrepreneur is someone who takes risks, but I think really successful entrepreneur are people who don't take risks," he said.
`They understand an opportunity so well, and do so much research on it ... when they make their decision it looks risky only to those who haven't done the analysis."
