Target Makes Drastic Workforce Move After Boycotts And Ceo Shift

Target is undergoing a major transformation after struggling for years with weak sales amid controversies that led to consumer boycotts. The retail chain recently replaced its CEO in an attempt to repair its reputation, and he is wasting no time enforcing a drastic workforce shakeup.

In 2023, while Target was already facing weak demand amid inflation, the company’s performance began to take a sharper left turn after it faced a boycott from consumers over its Pride clothing collection, which sparked backlash for including pieces marketed to children.

At the time, the controversy put Target’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies under a microscope. The company later announced in January last year that it was scaling back those policies, sparking another wave of boycotts from consumers who support DEI. 

Despite multiple efforts to win back customers, such as launching generous back-to-school discounts and lowering prices on 3,000 everyday items, Target saw a 3.8% year-over-year decline in comparable store sales during the third quarter of 2025, according to its most recent earnings report. 

Also, Placer.ai data showed that foot traffic at Target stores dipped 2.7% year over year during the quarter.

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Target begins sweeping workforce changes under new CEO

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

In a memo to employees last week, Fiddelke said that the company has “real work to do” to earn back trust from customers, vowing major changes. 

“In the weeks ahead, my focus is simple: listen closely, move with clarity and urgency, and lead with purpose,” said Fiddelke in the memo. “We will make clear choices, invest where it matters most and bring this strategy to life through our stores, our digital experiences, and — most importantly — our people.”

As his turnaround plan unfolds, Target has recently informed employees that it will ramp up investments in store staffing but conduct hundreds of layoffs in its regional offices and distribution centers, according to an internal memo sent on Jan. 9, which was obtained by CNBC. 

Related: Target’s efforts to make amends with customers hit a snag

Specifically, Target will scale back its store districts, resulting in about 100 job cuts, and it will also lay off 400 employees across its supply chain locations.

In the memo, Target said it will use the saved money from these cuts to invest in more hours for frontline store employees. This comes after it faced criticism from shoppers for long checkout lines in its stores, due to a limited number of cashiers. 

“This change also fuels our ability to put significantly more payroll in our stores — primarily in additional labor and hours where needed most, but also in new guest experience training for every team member at every store,” states the memo.

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Despite Target’s increased investment in its store workers, their starting wages will remain between $15 and $24 per hour, depending on the store location.

RTMNexus CEO Dominick Miserandino said in a statement to TheStreet that Target is becoming keen to the fact that these cuts are vital to its recovery. 

“Target is realizing you can’t maintain a premium brand with a hollowed-out store experience. Cutting back-office and supply chain roles is about moving resources to where the customer actually sees the value,” said Miserandino. “Nobody cares about regional office efficiency if they can't find an associate to help them on the floor.”

Target’s move reflects a rising workforce trend

Target's layoffs follow a growing trend where companies nationwide are shrinking their workforces as the battle for consumer dollars becomes more challenging amid economic uncertainty. 

Last month, Amazon announced 16,000 layoffs, a move it says will help streamline its organization and remove bureaucracy.

Meta also laid off over 1,000 employees in its Reality Labs division after losing billions of dollars from its Metaverse business. 

Macy’s, which suffered declining sales last year, also recently closed a fulfillment center in Connecticut, resulting in 993 layoffs, which will occur over the next few months.

T-Mobile even laid off 393 employees at various worksite locations in Washington state last month as it sees an increased number of postpaid phone customers pull the plug on service.

Layoffs have particularly skyrocketed in January, reaching a high that hasn’t been seen since 2009 for that specific month, according to recent data from Challenger, Gray, & Christmas.

How many U.S. employers cut jobs in January 2026:

• U.S. employers announced 108,435 job cuts in January, reflecting a 118% year-over-year increase. 
• January’s total job cuts are the highest for the month since 2009, when 241,749 job cuts were announced. 
• Specifically in the retail industry, 3,193 layoffs were announced last month, up from 1,035 in December. 
• Also, 30,784 job cuts across all industries were due to contract losses, 28,392 were the result of market/economic conditions, 20,044 were from restructuring, and 12,738 were from closings. 
• Employers announced 5,306 hiring plans in January, the lowest total for the month since Challenger began monitoring hiring plans in 2009.
  Source: Challenger, Gray, & Christmas

“Generally, we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January. It means most of these plans were set at the end of 2025, signaling employers are less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026,” said Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray, & Christmas in the report.

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