As BlackBerry lays off 40% of workers, Apple sees opportunity to recruit talent

Apple reportedly held the event to hire new talent on Sept. 26 in Waterloo, Ontario, according to the Financial Post. Invitations to the event were reportedly sent out by Apple to BlackBerry employees via the employment-focused social networking site LinkedIn.

In that note, Apple informed prospective employees that most of the jobs it is hiring for will be based out of its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters. The iPhone maker promised immigration assistance and relocation compensation for candidates that may be hired.

Just six days before — the same day Apple launched the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c — BlackBerry announced it would be laying off 40 percent of its workforce. A few days after that, BlackBerry revealed it had agreed to a $4.7 billion buyout from a Toronto holding company.

Apple isn't alone in looking to pick up potential talent from BlackBerry, as Intel also reportedly held a recruiting fair just a few days later.

Once virtually synonymous with the idea of mobile productivity, BlackBerry was slow to react to the emergence of competition from Apple's iPhone and other devices running Google's Android operating system. The years since its peak have seen BlackBerry, formerly known as Research in Motion, plummet in terms of both market share and revenue.