The Kitchener-Waterloo area, often called the Silicon Valley of the North, is home to BlackBerry and its fortunes are closely tied to the those of the beleaguered technology company. It is widely expected that a significant portion of the upcoming 4,500 layoffs will affect those working and living in the area. At the same time, BlackBerry is not the only technology company in the area. Google already has an office in Waterloo and there is a vibrant start-up culture as well. Kitchener-Waterloo will likely weather this storm but news from Motorola yesterday will only help.
Now a Google subsidiary, Motorola announced that it has opened an office in the area. Known as Motorola Kitchener-Waterloo, the new office is close to both Google’s own offices as well as those of BlackBerry. The current team is made up of a group of Googlers who transferred over to Motorola but plans are already afoot to grow the team further. According to Derek Phillips, now engineering director for Motorola Canada, “We’ve got big plans and we’re very optimistic. We’re always looking for places where there’s lots of opportunity for growth and it’s not always easy to find places that have significant tech talent in a variety of areas, but especially mobile.”
Phillips would not confirm that the upcoming BlackBerry layoffs could be a hiring opportunity for Motorola. Instead he pointed to the University of Waterloo as well as other companies established in the area as possible sources for new hires.
Could a future Motorola device come with a ‘Designed in Canada’ logo? Let’s hope so!
Source : The Financial Post