Barnes & Noble fired unspecified number of employees from its headquarters in New York who’d been on furlough since March – including longtime SF/fantasy and graphic novel buyer James Killen and fiction buyer Sessalee Hensley. A spokesperson said, “It is with great regret that a number of employees in the corporate office have left our employment. As with so many companies, we evaluate our needs in circumstances much changed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We now have almost all of our bookstores reopened and must align our head office requirements to our store priorities.”
UK bookstore chain WH Smith is planning to fire 150 people from their office staff in London and Swindon, with a spokesperson saying, “It has been an incredibly difficult decision for the business and we will be supporting all our colleagues through this.”
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