Target Inc. cut dozens of marketing jobs this week.
A spokesperson for the Minneapolis-based retailer declined to say how many jobs were cut, but said the reductions represented 0.4% of its corporate workforce.
Target has approximately 7,100 employees working in downtown Minneapolis and thousands more at its Brooklyn Park campus. Additionally, we have employees across the United States and in India.
The job cuts come as Target seeks to emerge from a sales slump as consumers cut back on spending under economic pressure. The company's comparable sales have declined for three consecutive quarters, and executives said last week that they expect sales to continue declining in the first quarter of this year.
Executives expect sales trends to improve in the second half of the year, with sales expected to be flat to 2% higher this year.
Lisa Roos, who was promoted to chief marketing officer last year, sent an email to marketing employees Monday about the “difficult decision” to cut positions.
He said the company has an “ambitious and exciting vision” for the future of marketing by focusing on Target, a brand that customers can't live without. That vision is essential for Target to return to growth, she said.
Marketing leaders “carefully evaluated the resources and capabilities” needed to make that happen, he added.
“This has given us the confidence to move on to bigger, bolder, and more focused projects that we can bring to market more efficiently,” she wrote. “However, during this process we also had to accept that some roles on the team would no longer be needed.”
He added that all employees whose positions were cut will be notified early Monday and will remain with the company for 60 days, during which time they can focus “forever” on searching for and applying for new roles, including other open positions at Target. Ta.
