BlackBerry officials may be in a frenzied state trying to find a solution to their floundering business, but some employees of the phone manufacturer based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, possibly couldn't care less.

After all, just days after BlackBerry announced that it would lay off 4,500 workers or about 40 per cent of its workforce, Apple started to send feelers to the soon-to-be laid off employees that the Cupertino-based company's doors may open to them.

The Financial Post reports that representatives from Apple, which is partly responsible for the financial debacle of BlackBerry with its cutting-edge iPhones that cause sales of the Canadian firm to tumble down, hosted a recruitment drive just 20 kilometres away from BlackBerry's headquarters.

The event was held at the Cambridge Hotel and Conference Centre on Sept 26. Cambridge is Ontario is on the outskirts of the Kitchener-Waterloo region, BlackBerry's home.

A LinkedIn invitation sent to select BlackBerry workers obtained by Financial Post advised the employees about to lose their jobs that most of the positions would be based in Cupertino, California. But it assured them that "Relocation and immigration assistance will be provided for candidates that are hired, as needed."

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that BlackBerry co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin may propose a buy-in of the company. The two hired Goldman Sachs Group and Centerview Partners to assist them in their plan.

Fairfax Financial, the company's biggest shareholder, is interested in buying BlackBerry and offered $4.7 billion, but it is seeking partners for the buyout.

Despite the release of 3 smartphone models in recent months with a new OS, BlackBerry found it difficult to regain their old market share lost to Apple and Samsung, leading to an almost $1-billion loss on huge inventory of BlackBerry phones that nobody wants to buy despite lower price tags.

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