Target announced on Thursday that it planned to cut roughly 1,800 corporate jobs in an effort to become more efficient, as a new chief executive is set to take over the retail giant early next year.
About 8 percent of global corporate positions will be eliminated, wrote Michael Fiddelke, Target’s incoming chief executive and currently the chief operating officer, in a memo distributed to corporate employees.
The cuts are the first step in a restructuring process that Target hopes will strengthen its management and accelerate the use of new technology, according to the memo.
“The truth is, the complexity we’ve created over time has been holding us back,” Mr. Fiddelke, a 20-year employee of the company, wrote in the memo. “Too many layers and overlapping work have slowed decisions, making it harder to bring ideas to life.”
About 1,000 employees will lose their jobs, and roughly 800 open roles will be closed, according to a Target spokesman. No jobs in stores will be affected, he said. Employees facing cuts will receive pay and benefits until Jan. 3, in addition to severance packages.
“It’s important to understand that we did not take these actions to save cost,” the spokesman said. He added that adjusting the global corporate structure “is the first step in rewiring our organization to be agile and make faster decisions.”
Details about the structural changes will be released on Tuesday, Mr. Fiddelke said in the memo, and he asked all U.S. corporate employees to work from home next week. He said that the changes would be difficult for employees, but that they were a necessary step to “enabling the progress and growth we all want to see.”
Minnesota-based Target has been struggling to rebound from a difficult 2024, when it reported inconsistent sales growth and a tumbling stock price. This year, results for its most recent quarter were better than expected, but still showed a drop in foot traffic and in the amount that shoppers spent per visit. Overall, since April 2024, the company’s stock price has lost nearly half its value.
Walmart, a rival retailer, had sales rise nearly 5 percent during its most recent quarter, the company reported in August.
Target announced during an August call with analysts that Mr. Fiddelke would take over in February for Brian Cornell, who will move to executive chairman. The company’s stock dropped the same day.
Mr. Fiddelke’s Thursday memo outlined his hope for a more agile and tech-savvy company that can improve product selection and the customer experience.
“Put together,” he wrote, “these changes set the course for our company to be stronger, faster and better positioned to serve guests and communities for many years to come.”
Emmett Lindner is a business reporter for The Times.
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