MW Target's new CEO wants to make stores more welcoming. His latest move is to cut jobs.

By Bill Peters

Office and warehouse layoffs will allow 'significantly more payroll in our stores,' executives say, according to reports

Target has suffered from years of stalled sales at its big-box stores.

Target is cutting around 500 jobs, as it tries to put money into making its stores more appealing places to shop, according to reports.

The move, as reported Monday by Bloomberg News and CNBC, arrives a little more than a week after Michael Fiddelke became Target's (TGT) new CEO, and after the chain cut corporate staff by 8% last year.

CNBC reported the cuts would take place in distribution centers and regional offices, even as it boosts store staff. Target, in a memo, said it also plans to pare down the number of store districts, according to that report.

"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," the memo said, according to CNBC.

Target did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shares were down fractionally after hours on Monday. The stock is down 12% over the past 12 months.

Fiddelke became Target's new CEO on Feb. 1, after years of stalling sales at the big-box chain, which has struggled to find itself amid a broader consumer flight to bargains and steep competition from Walmart $(WMT)$, Costco $(COST)$ and Amazon (AMZN). Fiddelke, in a message last week, said the company needed to reclaim its sense of style, lean on technology and make store visits and interactions online easier.

-Bill Peters

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February 09, 2026 17:49 ET (22:49 GMT)

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