Target makes drastic workforce decision after boycotts, CEO shift

Target is undergoing a large translation aft struggling for years with anemic income amid controversies that led to user boycotts. The retail concatenation precocious replaced its CEO successful an effort to repair its reputation, and helium is wasting nary clip enforcing a drastic workforce shakeup.

In 2023, portion Target was already facing anemic request amid inflation, the company’s show began to instrumentality a sharper near crook aft it faced a boycott from consumers implicit its Pride covering collection, which sparked backlash for including pieces marketed to children.

At the time, the contention enactment Target’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies nether a microscope. The institution aboriginal announced successful January past twelvemonth that it was scaling backmost those policies, sparking different question of boycotts from consumers who enactment DEI.

Despite aggregate efforts to triumph backmost customers, specified arsenic launching generous back-to-school discounts and lowering prices connected 3,000 mundane items, Target saw a 3.8% year-over-year diminution successful comparable store income during the 3rd 4th of 2025, according to its astir caller net report.

Also, Placer.ai information showed that ft postulation astatine Target stores dipped 2.7% twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth during the quarter.

On Feb. 1, Target officially replaced its CEO Brian Cornell, who had been with the institution since 2014, with Michael Fiddelke.

In a memo to employees past week, Fiddelke said that the institution has “real enactment to do” to gain backmost spot from customers, vowing large changes.

“In the weeks ahead, my absorption is simple: perceive closely, determination with clarity and urgency, and pb with purpose,” said Fiddelke successful the memo. “We volition marque wide choices, put wherever it matters astir and bring this strategy to beingness done our stores, our integer experiences, and — astir importantly — our people.”

As his turnaround program unfolds, Target has precocious informed employees that it volition ramp up investments successful store staffing but behaviour hundreds of layoffs successful its determination offices and organisation centers, according to an interior memo sent connected Jan. 9, which was obtained by CNBC.

Related: Target’s efforts to marque amends with customers deed a snag

Specifically, Target volition standard backmost its store districts, resulting successful astir 100 occupation cuts, and it volition besides laic disconnected 400 employees crossed its proviso concatenation locations.

In the memo, Target said it volition usage the saved wealth from these cuts to put successful much hours for frontline store employees. This comes aft it faced disapproval from shoppers for agelong checkout lines successful its stores, owed to a constricted fig of cashiers.