Target plans to slash 1,000 jobs and 800 vacancies amid struggling sales as the retailer’s incoming chief executive warned: “It will be difficult.”
The job cuts will affect 8 percent of approximately 22,000 corporate employees as the retailer looks to reverse stagnant sales, the Wall Street Journal first reported Thursday.
Corporate employees are being asked to work from home next week, according to a memo obtained by the outlet, sent by Michael Fiddelke, who is due to take over as CEO next February.
“It will be difficult,” Fiddelke, who has been at the company for 20 years, reportedly said in the memo. “It’s a necessary step,” he added.
He said “complexity” in the company’s structure “has been holding us back” and more details about the plans are due to be revealed next Tuesday.
“Too many layers and overlapping work have slowed decisions, making it harder to bring ideas to life,” Fiddelke said.
The Independent has contacted Target for comment.
For the last few years, Target has recorded stagnated sales and stock value as it struggled to win customers back after a series of controversies.
Target announced in January that it would end its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order banning DEI.
The move sparked a boycott, organized by Rev. Jamal Bryant, a prominent Black pastor in Georgia.
He encouraged customers to stay away from Target for Lent — and then the boycott continued, with a variety of grassroots organizations getting involved.
The boycott made a difference to Target’s bottom line, in Q1, the retailer announced disappointing sales, with a 2.8 percent drop compared to sales from the same period last year.
Last summer, the retail giant scaled back its Pride merchandise to appease conservatives after anti-LBGTQ+ individuals and groups boycotted the store and threatened employees in June 2023.
For years, Target’s annual revenue reflected its success with customers. The company went from $73.7 billion in 2015 to an all-time high of $109.1 billion in 2022.
Even during the pandemic, while other companies suffered, Target recorded a $15 billion growth in sales – proving that customers were still willing to shop at their favorite store – whether online or from a distance.
But Target’s current CEO, Brian Cornell, attributed some of the stagnation to customers buying less overall – in part due to uncertainty around Trump’s tariffs.
In August, Cornell said that Trump’s tariffs remained “challenging and highly uncertain” for the retailer.
Ariana Baio contributed reporting.
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