Target Axing 1800 HQ Jobs

Target Corp. (Minneapolis) will cut its corporate headcount by 1800, the second-largest such downsizing in its history, report a variety of sources, including The Minnesota Star Tribune, the retailer’s hometown newspaper.

The restructuring will cut about 1000 employees and close roughly 800 open positions — some 8% of Target’s global workforce. All U.S. corporate staff have been asked to work remotely next week; affected employees will learn their status on Tuesday (Oct. 28).

The retailer said changes were not made to cut costs but to make operations more agile and improve decision-making.

“The truth is, the complexity we’ve created over time has been holding us back,” incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke said in a note to employees. “Too many layers and overlapping work have slowed decisions, making it harder to bring ideas to life.”

The announcement comes in the aftermath of 11 consecutive quarters of flat or declining sales for Target, a period in which it has lost ground to competitors such as Walmart, Amazon and Costco, the Star Tribune noted. Target last laid off a significant number of corporate employees in 2015, when 1700 workers were let go and another 1400 open positions went unfilled, the newspaper said.