The Wall Street Journal is reporting that BlackBerry is cutting up to 40 per cent of its workforce.

The newspaper says the cut will affect several thousand employees at the Waterloo-based company.

BlackBerry has been in the midst of major changes and recently formed a special committee to consider strategic alternatives which could include its sale.

Today’s news of lay-offs comes as Blackberry prepares to launch a new smartphone in the coming weeks this time with a larger screen.

The BlackBerry Zed-30 comes with a five-inch display which means it’s about the same size as its competitor the Samsung Galaxy S4.

The company says the phone has a larger battery  that will last for up to 25 hours.

Other updates include the latest version  of the BlackBerry 10 operating system.

The company says the new phone will be available at a number of Canadian carriers in the coming weeks though specific dates haven’t been announced.