Target To Cut 500 Regional Office And Distribution Jobs, Pour More Money Into Stores: Report

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Minneapolis-based Target Corporation reportedly plans to cut about 500 jobs across distribution centers and regional offices while increasing spending on store staffing and training, as the retailer works to fix ongoing customer complaints about messy stores, out-of-stock items and long checkout lines.

According to CNBC, Target said in an internal memo to employees that it will put significantly more payroll into its nearly 2,000 stores, primarily through additional labor hours and new guest-experience training for frontline workers.

The company said the changes are designed to improve the in-store experience after several years of flat sales and growing competition from rivals such as Walmart. About 100 store-district roles and roughly 400 supply-chain and regional office positions are expected to be eliminated, CNBC reported.

The staffing shift marks one of the first major moves under new CEO Michael Fiddelke, who officially took over this month. Target leaders said the company has become overly complex in recent years, particularly as store employees juggle traditional retail duties alongside curbside pickup and online order fulfillment. Target said starting wages for store workers will not change and will remain between $15 and $24 per hour, depending on location.

The move follows a much larger round of corporate layoffs announced last fall that hit the Twin Cities especially hard. In October, Target confirmed it would permanently lay off more than 800 employees at its downtown Minneapolis headquarters and Brooklyn Park campus as part of a nationwide plan to cut about 1,800 corporate roles.

Those layoffs were described at the time as part of a broad reorganization aimed at simplifying operations and speeding up decision-making.

Target is expected to provide more details about its turnaround strategy when it reports earnings and hosts an investor event at its Minneapolis headquarters on March 3.