Layoffs spread through Mass.
Firms in several sectors join list of those making cuts
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Four large Massachusetts companies are paring payrolls, eliminating hundreds of jobs as the deepening recession spreads into industry sectors ranging from office supplies and publishing to legal services and data-storage equipment.
Office products retailer
"Like many companies, Staples has been making some difficult decisions to stay competitive in these challenging times," said spokesman Paul Capelli. "We've certainly seen a slowdown in business, like most retailers and many other companies."
Boston educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co., meanwhile, disclosed it was combining several units, resulting in job cuts.
"We regret that we must say goodbye to some colleagues with whom we've worked and collaborated for many years," chairman and chief executive Tony Lucki wrote in a memo obtained by the Globe.
A company insider said the cuts would affect several hundred of the 5,300 workers, but fewer than 100 in Boston. The company employs about 900 in the Back Bay.
Goulston & Storrs PC, a Boston-based law firm, confirmed it idled about 40 administrative employees this week. Most were located at its Boston headquarters, said spokeswoman Theresa Bomba.
Bomba said the weak economy was a factor as Goulston moved to trim its support staff. "It was to bring us more in line with the national average of lawyers to secretaries, which is 4 to 1," she said.
Gallant declined to say how many workers were affected. But he added, "We plan on finishing 2008 with more employees than we had at the beginning of the year." EMC has about 42,000 employees, including 9,000 in the state.
Robert Weisman can be reached at weisman@globe.com. Hiawatha Bray of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
