As many of you know, Mitt Romney likes to claim the success of Staples as an example of his job growth expertise. This is despite the fact that much of the growth at Staples came after Mitt was no longer running Bain Capital.
So if Mitt wants to take the credit for jobs created when he was not running Bain, then surely he will admit that he is responsible when layoffs are taking place, right?
Staples to close stores, cut costs, boost online presence
By Tiffany Hsu
September 25, 2012, 8:36 a.m.
Staples Inc. is speeding up store closures, shaking up management and boosting its online business as the office-supply chain implements a multiyear plan to cut costs.
The Framingham, Mass.-based company is looking to save $250 million, before taxes, by the end of fiscal year 2015. At that point, Staples said it intends to have shaved down its retail square footage by 15%.
For now, the chain is looking to accelerate the shutdown of 15 U.S. stores. By the end of its fiscal year, Staples said it expects to have 30 net store closures and 30 downsized or relocated stores in North America. The chain will also shutter 45 European locations as well as some of its European delivery businesses.
http://www.latimes.com/...
The article says that they plan to close 75 stores in the next 6 months. Using the figure in the article of 2,000 stores and 88,000 employees, that means that Mitt is responsible for laying off just over 3,000 today. (Based on his taking credit for the hiring.)