Guys, it's a sinking ship on fire. The company is trying to get out of this with as litlle damage as possible while remaining profitable. Nobody is "safe" as it's just the way business works. From a cost perspective, it makes sense for those at, or close to the age of 45 to be first on the chopping block so as to avoid higher future severance premiums. And of course all the signs were there. Hints were dropped for everyone to pick up without directlly causing panic. This is part of Staples reinvention, and these changes will continue. The end goal is to make the 3 separate businessesss look more palatable so that they could be sold and in turn, bring Sycamore a decent ROI. You'll be surprised just how close they already are to having 1 of these 3 groups secede.
It's just how business works, and unfortunately, decisions are made on numbers, not the people involved.
Thanks, @RijQHzi-1rkj , so much truth in this.