Brian Zubert, Director of BlackBerry Developer Relations, appears to be another victim of BlackBerry’s employee cult to reduce costs. Brian, who has been at BlackBerry for nine years, was one of the most upfront and helpful members of the Dev Relations Team.
Brian has done a lot for BlackBerry and BlackBerry developers, working with developers around the world helping them create BlackBerry apps.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that we reported on how, along with a few members of his team, he was voluntarily creating mobile apps for small local Canadian firms.
According to his twitter account, Brian was “asked to leave” BlackBerry and our own sources confirm he was laid off. We have no information on the reason why.
Developer Relations at BlackBerry seems to be getting hitting hard at the moment, with some leaving and others being asked to leave. Whether this is a result of the fact that BlackBerry appear not to be focusing on BlackBerry 10 development is open to conjecture. However, this lay-off is one that will raise eyebrows in many areas.
High profile lay-offs like this do nothing to encourage developers to develop for the BlackBerry platform.
Whatever the reason, we wish Brian all the best for the future and thank him for all he did for BlackBerry and their developers.
