Borders Group Inc. just broke the bad news to 124 employees – that they would lose their jobs.

At the Ann Arbor headquarters along, the layoffs apply to 88 employees. Thirty-six other employees across the country have also been laid off according to the spokeswoman of Borders, Anne Roman.

Although the numbers comprise just less than 1% of Borders’ total employees. But if you add that to other layoffs in the past years, this has made a big impact to the company. Borders had already laid off almost half  of its employess at the corporate headquarters in the past 2 years. The total employee count last 2008 was 1,232. At present there are 650 people.

The layoffs came after the news last Tuesday when Borders CEO Ron Marshall was said to leave the company and reported weak sales during the holidays.

“The company didn’t drive sales to the level it needed to,” Roman said. “Companies need to keep payroll aligned with the reality of where sales are.”

“Borders also recently consolidated its technology and financial systems for Borders and Waldenbooks stores and needed fewer people in those areas,” she said.

For those employees who will lose their job, they will receive transition pay, severance, and job placement assistance.

Find an Ann Arbor Job in the Directory of Ann Arbor, MI.