Their investor faq page (http://investor.gopro.com/faq.cfm) says 1460 employees total. That would make about 100 employees being cut.
There's also about 80 open positions there now (I didn't count internships). https://gopro.com/careers/jobs
There's also about 80 open positions there now (I didn't count internships). https://gopro.com/careers/jobs
1. Advertise open positions that aren't really open
2. Collect a bunch of resumes
3. When a position opens up 6 months later, offer it to someone
who hasn't been able to find a job in 6 months...?
This kind of recruitment is commonplace, especially in large "always hiring" companies. Its sometimes known as talent pipelines. However in all of the companies I am aware of, it will be made very clear to the candidate that they are applying to a pipeline, not to an actual open position. Doing otherwise would piss off candidates, harm the employer's brand, and likely be counter productive.
Its also common to ask candidates to "register" in order to be informed of future openings. Again though, its made clear that you are not applying for an actual position.
However agencies, particularly smaller ones (as opposed to actual employers), are well known for posting "bait and switch" openings which are not real jobs at all but simply to try and troll for talent.
1. Advertise open positions that aren't really open
2. Get a feel of the market and see how many candidates you get and what salary they ask
3. Gain brand awareness because candidates are used to your name
4. Test the effectiveness of your hiring/advertising channels without actually hiring anybody
5. When you actually need to hire somebody you already know what salary people ask, you know what kind of people will find your ad and you focus only on current CVs
They've been solidly profitable the last four quarters, and the three years before that - $220 million in net income over that time. They have $500m in cash and zero debt.
How bright is their future? That's a great debate to have. And that's an entirely different question than: are or were they a real business, and will they still be around in a year (obvious answer: yes).
That may have been the intended purpose, but some of their most widely covered stuff was closer to this. Like the ruckus with Ford Motor Company.
I took it with a half-dose of "not my fault" when the process fell through when news of this news article started to come out, since this wasn't my first time at interviewing with a company shortly before financial troubles become publicly known.