BlackBerry just laid off 250 workers assigned at the company's product testing facility in Waterloo, Ontario. The cost-cutting measure is in response to BlackBerry's attempt to improve profits amid weak sales of its Z10 and Q10 smartphones.

The Canadian tech firm rolled out the Z10 in February, but sales are low as consumers prefer the devices of other more popular phone brands such as Apple, Samsung, HTC and Sony.

BlackBerry, which has about 12,700 workers, is hoping that its sales would pick up with the Q10, which has physical keyboards like the company's earlier models. Providing that vital feature would hopefully convince old BlackBerry customers not to shift brands.

However, it will not only be the 250 fired employees who would leave the Waterloo-based tech firm known before as Research in Motion. BlackBerry is anticipating more executives would leave as their retention bonuses expire and Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins sets higher targets for managers.

The axing of the 250 employees is part of the Canadian company's restructuring, adding to the thousands of workers that BlackBerry laid off in 2012.

RELATED STORIES