To clarify - Payless is putting more people out work than the entire coal mining industry in the US. But don’t worry the government is supporting the miners. And subsidizing their employers.
Coal mining: ~50,000 jobs (per BLS, described here: https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jun...)
Payless globally: ~18,000 jobs (and international stores are not closing, per https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/15/business/payless-closing-stor...)
0: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mining_in_the_United_St... 1: https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/15/business/payless-closing-stor...
Source?
18000 Payless employees in 2017 [1]
~50000 in mining industry [2], ~10000 in extraction [3] in 2017.
So it's probably not true that it's more than the entire coal mining industry. But, more than the number of actual coal miners? Possibly.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payless_ShoeSource
[2] https://www.bls.gov/oes/2017/may/naics4_212100.htm
[3] https://www.bls.gov/oes/2017/may/naics4_212100.htm#47-0000