Target announces a major change affecting its entire business
Over the last year, Aim has found itself at the center of intense backlash and boycotts over a series of controversial business decisions that have bordered on politics. This negatively affected the company’s financial situation and led to many slowdowns in sales.
Now the retailer is making another bold move, but one that could completely reshape its business.
The goal is to eliminate 1,800 corporate roles, including 1,000 layoffs and 800 unfilled positions, according to a company memo sent to employees by COO Michael Fiddelke.
These latest cuts represent about 8% of Target’s workforce and mark the largest reduction in a decade. Affected employees will be notified on October 28.
“The truth is that the complexity we’ve created over time is holding us back. Too many layers and overlapping work have slowed down decisions, making it harder to bring ideas to life,” Fiddelke wrote. CNBC.
This major restructuring comes as Fiddelke prepares to take over as Target’s CEO in February 2026. Corporate Acceleration OfficeIt is a multi-year effort to streamline business-to-business processes and leverage technology and data. accelerate growth.
“I want to express my full confidence in his leadership and focus on delivering better results and sustainable growth,” said Target CEO Brian Cornell. expression. “He has made meaningful contributions in times of change and played a critical role in building differentiated capabilities that will continue to move Target forward. Michael brings a deep understanding of our business and a true commitment to accelerating our progress.”
This initiative aims to reverse the slowdown Target has faced in many areas of its business over the past few quarters.
Related: Walmart is implementing a hiring freeze of sorts (blame the White House)
inside Second quarter of fiscal 2025Target (TGT) reported a decline in net sales of approximately 1% compared to last year; There was a decline of almost 2% in comparable sales. Its shares are also down more than 30% year-to-date as of October 24.
Despite multiple efforts to turn the business around, the retailer expects sales to continue declining throughout 2025.
The labor market has weakened inflationRising costs and economic uncertainty have made job hunting increasingly difficult. Long term for many workers unemployment is no longer sustainable, increasing financial pressures.
according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics‘ Employment Situation update finds 911,000 fewer jobs added than expected in the 12 months to March 2025, signaling significant employment growth slow down.
Only 22,000 new in August non-farm payrolls while recording, unemployment The rate rose to 4.3%, the highest level in nearly four years.
“Although we cannot see it broadly, layoffsSince the recruitment rate is quite low, those who lose their jobs or are new to the job market have difficulty finding new positions. “This will lead to a higher unemployment rate over the next year,” said Mike Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association. expression.
Researcher: Harvard Business School He notes that relying on layoffs to alleviate temporary economic shifts often fails and has hidden costs that make companies less profitable, innovative and productive.
Although Target did not explicitly describe layoffs as a cost-cutting measure, many companies adopt similar strategies to redirect resources to more profitable areas in times of financial distress. Given Target’s recent investment-intensive efforts and declining sales, the outages may be linked to broader operations. financial difficulties.
Related: Starbucks makes changes to win back customers
This story was first reported by: Street First appeared on October 25, 2025 Retail section. Add TheStreet at: Preferred Source by clicking here.
