Google hires staff, Blackberry sheds staff.

The Google owned company Motorola is creating jobs while the other Smartphone company Blackberry goes under.

Here's a light amid the doom and gloom. There's a smartphone maker in town that's hiring even as BlackBerry sheds jobs.

Motorola just opened a 10-person office in Kitchener and is looking to expand. The Google-owned firm with an established brand makes smartphones and tablets.

With news this week that BlackBerry is cutting 4,500 jobs, many have heard this region has other technology jobs to be filled. This is a real example.

"We'll hire as many people as we can that we think are the best and brightest," said Derek Phillips, engineering director for Motorola Canada. "We will grow as fast as we can find the best people."

Motorola sells more smartphones in the U.S. than BlackBerry. The firm is looking for people keen to develop good software to show off its best hardware. More plainly, people with computer skills who can help make Motorola devices even friendlier and easier to use.

Examples on its latest device include a feature that lets you talk more easily to your phone, and a feature that lets you activate the camera by twisting the phone twice, rather than pressing the power button and hunting for the icon.

"What we're interested in are things that make it easier to interact with your phone," Phillips said.

Motorola is settling in this region because it's confident in the talent, said Phillips, a University of Waterloo graduate. Its office is in the renovated Breithaupt Block building in central Kitchener. "This has been in discussion for months," he said.

He would not say how many Motorola jobs are available but said the firm is looking for recent graduates as well as more experienced people. He can be reached at phillips@motorola.com

"I am very positive about the region," he said. "Our intent is to put the word out and say, we're interested in hiring the best people, make ourselves available, provide an opportunity which would be very exciting."

Posted by www.anymobilesmartphone.co.uk