The number of employees that received pink slips from the Blackberry maker has not been identified, but some reports estimate that around 200 workers were let go. The Canadian Press cited an Ontario radio station that said most of the layoffs are thought to be in the manufacturing space.

The report should not come as all that great of a surprise to RIM workers. The company announced during a conference call on Thursday that it would begin eliminating redundancies and moving resources to more lucrative areas, according to the Star.

Monday's layoffs come on the heels of a dismal earnings report for the quarter ending in May. RIM saw its revenue dip 12 percent to $4.9 billion, down from $5.6 billion in the same quarter of last year. Meanwhile, net profits fell from $769 million a year ago to $695 million in the most recent quarter.

The Blackberry maker's stock has plummeted more than 50 percent in 2011 alone due to major losses in smartphone market share. RIM stock has fallen 27 percent since Friday, when the company reported its quarterly earnings and lowered its full-year outlook, according to the Associated Press.

Earlier this month, market research firm comScore reported that Apple (News - Alert) has taken over RIM as the nation's number two smartphone platform maker, even though the iPhone maker hasn't launched a new handset since last summer.

RIM garnered only 25.7 percent of overall market share in the quarter ending in April, down from 30.4 percent in the previous quarter.

The bad news continued earlier today when social networking tool Seesmic (News - Alert) announced that it will no longer provide support for the Blackberry, and will instead focus its efforts on competing smartphones.

“We encourage those affected by this change to try out Seesmic for Android (News - Alert), iOS and Windows Phone 7, as well as Seesmic Desktop and Web,” the company noted in a blog post.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.

Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell