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Circuit City did the same thing and look what that got them.
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Gah! I was totally going to say that =]
Circuit City did the same thing and look what that got them.
Gah! I was totally going to say that =]
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I find most Targets to be under or over staffed with a few who actually know what's going on.
They'll be just like those layed off or furlowed auto workers at GM or Chrysler. Instead of never being called back they'll just never get fulltime or the same pay & benefits again.
I think it was Circut City that tried the samething several times as a matter of fact before they went out.
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I agree. Even though I shop at Target often, I rarely see any employees out and working and the only department I ever get asked if I need help in is electronics.
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No surprise, corporate America continues trying to reduce the American labor force to the modern equivalent of serfdom. Only then will they be truly happy.
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Might not be an American working poor serfdom. I can foresee a day when it gets so bad that somebody like Target lobbies the government for tens of thousands of temp worker visas claiming they can no longer find enough Americans willing to do the work for what they want to pay but there are plenty of available workers hanging out in the Home Depot parking lots.
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Now, playing devil's advocate - the entire concept of pay (whether be in cash or benefits) is that the expense spent in employing you is less than or equal to the benefit you provide to the company. That could be sales (which is why commission is so often used for sales people) or freeing up time of others (ie, Janitorial staff) to use in more productive ways. As funny as it would look, it would be a waste to have the CFO mopping the floors in the local target.
Not sure the exact details, but it sounds like Target is trying to flush higher paying jobs to replace with lower. In fact, he says just that. The idea works if you're willing to trade an overall sales/profits drop in exchange for a drop in expense... so long as expense drops more than sales (you want the margin to stay the same or grow).
Its a cold fact, one that didn't work with Circuit City. But how many people go to Target specifically needing help choosing between two items? With Target moving more into groceries (all those in my area are now \"SuperTargets\") is that skill set really needed anymore? And the areas I would think you'd need experience (electronics, auto, etc) are not stocked very well and suffer from stiff competition from other places (electronics, for example, Best Buy, Fry's, Walmart, etc).
Its a crappy decision, but I would love to be a fly on the wall...
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Thing is - target's CEO makes 5 million+ a year - that's a lot of full time employees and benefits.
I don't see how companies can justify treating people this way when they make this obscene amount of money.
If the company really is in trouble - I'd personally have a hard time sleeping at night know the state of the company and how much I was making.
CEOs make so much for a variety of reasons. One is the specialization of their skills. Not anyone can be a successful CEO - and the pay reflects that. One of the biggest reasons, those, is the tax code - CEO pay is limited in its tax deductibility to $1m. That's why you usually don't see huge amounts of guaranteed pay - most is shifted into bonuses - which tax laws allow to be deductible (so long as approved by the Board and a few other things). Which would you rather? $10 a day OR $5 a day with a 50/50 shot at getting $10 or 0. Statistically they are worth the same, but people in general have a greater fear than gain, so that second one, to be on par economically, the 50/50 shot needs to be $12 or 0. Or $10 or 2. Something to offset that risk.
And it doesn't help financial report requires them to disclose the pay of top executives... if I were interviewing for Coke's CEO position, I'd darn well know what Pepsi is paying - and want them to at least match that.
Then again - it all comes down to the skills brought. A CEO brings a hell of a lot more skills than a bagger. Hence the pay difference.
The thing is, it's a decision that works at a strictly-microeconomic level. But at a macroeconomic level, it doesn't.
The problem with microeconomics is, that nothing in life is ever strictly microeconomic. Decisions are always made, and events always occur, in a larger context; those decisions can affect the economic environment around them, and by the same token, the economic environment around them can affect how they turn out.
If businesses were asked to put a value on employees it would be zero. They would have slave labor if they could get away with it. People are paid based on what society will tolerate. Since society will not tolerate slave labor businesses pay the least they can get away with.
Please don't try to blame employees for the greed of businesses.
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It's not the greed of businesses, it's the greed of profit driven publicly traded corporations who will do absolutely anything and everything, no matter how detrimental to the long term health of the company, to boost profits for the next quarter.
There are many privately owned and small businesses out there who still value and take good care of their people. A lot of the time, you will almost always find more knowledgeable help at a smaller shop than a big box.
It is the greed of businesses. All businesses and the entire capitalistic system is designed to garner the most profit. In the United States boards, politicians and stockholders are all only concerned with the quarterly results. They are not forward thinking in most decisions. GM and Chrysler are prime examples of this. They did not ever think beyond what they could do today versus what would happen in 2020.
You're trying to simplify it too much. What someone is willing to work for is a market just like the market of selling things - if there is not too much outside interference (government, union, monopoly/oligopoly, monopsony/oligopsony). I'll come back to those in a bit.
Say businesses decided that they wanted slave labor - effectively paying their employees nothing. Well, their employees would simply decide not to take that job (interference aside). An employee, in the long run, will take the job that maximizes his earning potential. Why do you think lots of people go job hunting right after raises are announced/reviews completed? Many think they can earn better elsewhere - a sign of a health labor market, by the way, when you have that kind of action.
So Evil Co. decides that its not going to pay ANYTHING for their employees, but Slightly-Less-Evil Co. will pay some other wage that's even higher. No one will work for Evil Co until all other sources of employment are exhausted (Good Co., Mean Co, etc). Only those who cannot get a job elsewhere will work at Evil Co. - but even they will decide whether its better to just stay at home in their box than to work for nothing - after all, they get paid the same.
Now lets throw in that Evil Co is the only employer in the area and there can be no relocation (ie, they are the only employer in the world - producing and selling everything). They cannot employ their people for nothing otherwise they will have no sales - no cash is moving in the system. Sure, that's overly simplistic, but that's the fact.
Employers want to pay as little as possible. Employees want to get paid as much as possible. There is a magic number (combination of pay and benefits) that the two sides will meet for the employer to offer the job to the employee. Now, that doesn't mean it is always an even affair - say this subclass of Employee doesn't have the skills to do anything else and those skills are easily replaced (sackers at a grocery store, for example) - his pay will be reduced to the point that, long-term, he can just survive. But that's what happens when you are at the lowest end of the skills ladder.
Now I understand that it is VERY simplistic - but in the long run things work out. If one sacker isn't enough to live by himself/herself, they will begin living together.
But it is foolish to think that every position will pay a living wage - not even position provides enough value to earn that. And then we have the obvious problem of \"what should be considered in determining that 'living wage' in today's society?\" Enough for rent, obviously, but what size apartment? Efficiency? Enough to eat, obviously, but how well? What nutritional level? What about telecommunications service - enough to afford internet, cell phones, etc? Cars?
What seems to be a simple complaint gets VERY complicated. And, from experience, a living wage in NY is MUCH different than a living wage in Texas or Kansas.
In times past - it was people who couldn't pay there debts who were literally sold off to slavery.
If it wasn't for rule of law in this country I could see companies make you pay off your debt by working for them for free.
Wasn't it Chris Rock after all who said - companies who pay you minimum wage send an important message - if I could pay you less I would.
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Have you ever been to a grocery store with highly-paid, experienced people? It's awesome.
Actually, yes. New Seasons in the Portland area. All the good food and service of Whole Foods without the dickbag CEO, and not as shockingly expensive as Whole Paycheck (although more expensive than Fred Meyer or Safeway).
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And that's the thing that many (most?) companies don't get. It's not just grocery stores. It's any business. You pay your (low-level) employees a decent wage and they enjoy working there more, they help out the customers more, the customers have a better shopping experience, they spend more there, etc etc etc. So even though it costs the company a little more per employee, it ends up benefiting them in the end.
Obviously, it's better for the economy as a whole, too, to have employees who can actually afford to buy things -- both at your store and elsewhere. And if the economy is better, your company is going to benefit from that.
Too many companies just look at short term profits and fail to see the big picture. Of course, a big reason for that is that it just doesn't matter to them. The executives don't care if the company goes out of business. They still make millions and then go off to become executives at another company and continue to make millions.
Is it more cost effective though, to retain higher paid employees when cheaper help is readily available?
Sure the customer service may slip, but if the loss in business that will result is less than the savings earned by cutting the employees, the company comes out ahead.
Well, I was speaking in general, and not necessarily of this or any other specific situation. But again, it's a question of short-term/small-picture vs. long-term/big-picture. Yes, obviously if you pay your low level employees $1 less per hour, then you save $1 x number of employees x number of hours worked. However, when every company uses those same cost-cutting measures, it has an overall negative impact on the economy. People who lose their jobs or make less money can no longer afford to buy things that they used to be able to.
I'm not saying that companies shouldn't try to make a profit, but when short term profit becomes the most important thing, it really doesn't help anyone in the end.
In today's economy, short term profit is the ONLY thing, at least as far as publicly traded corps go.
This sounds similar to Circuit City's move to get rid of all those \"expensive\" senior people. You know, the ones who actually knew something about the product and could sell pretty well? A company that doesn't invest in and value its employees is seldom successful at growing its business.
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I was one of them :) Sounds like it is all over again...
The lack of experienced employees is exactly why customer service frequently sucks in America today. When you don't have employees that know the product or how their company actually works you are left WITHOUT anyone who can handle the simplist of problems.
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If this is true, I'm going to vote with my wallet, if you are going to no longer treat your employees decently, I'm no longer going to patronize your company. Since I currently spend $300+ per month at Target (in order to avoid giving any business at all to Walmart), I guess that $3,600+ a year is now going to be going to CostCo.
I wonder how long it will take before Target becomes the next Circuit City?
I emailed the president of Target who says this article is completely false. Let's check our facts before we penalize a corporation.
Yes, voting with your wallet by buying cheap Chinese goods at Costco instead of at Target or Walmart. It's all the same crap, don't fool yourself.
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While I support your spirit entirely, soon it won't matter, you will simply have no option BUT WalMart for ANY goods if this continues...and on a bigger scale WalMart soon won't just be the bigger employer in America, they might be more or less the ONLY employer in America (once they find a way to infiltrate a few more industries...)
Seriously, I hope Costco is managed well, but give it 5 to 10 years, I don't see Target, Best Buy, Costco and several other stores on the landscape any more. People trying to save and get something for nothing at many other people's expense (Walmart shoppers) are pretty much going to help bring about the end of quality retail and consumer choice as we know it.
People will simply not wake up and look at where their money is going, let alone fight for something better in sufficient numbers. The information on WM is more than available - several movies, websites and all kinds of articles have come and gone.
People who don't want a fricking NaziMart in their neighborhood can't even stop them. And yes I really do consider the Walton children to be Anti-American economic Nazis (in full violation of what their dad Sam stood for and believed.) They don't want us to have real capitalism, they want economic despotism with benefits and quality working environment and retirement for nobody and consumer choice for nobody, and all profits for themselves, and are quickly bringing those about.
Oh and by the way...just wait until there is no competition and WM raises your prices 200 percent or more...
Target is much bigger than Circuit City. And Circuit City's demise was caused by aggressive pricing by Wal-Mart. Best Buy and Target were able to lower prices and weather the hit. Circuit City, on the other hand, couldn't.
Their workforce reduction was an attempt to steady a sinking ship. Unfortunately, it was too late.
Aggressive pricing from Walmart had little to do with Circuit City's demise. As a former Circuit employee I can tell you with confidence that it was just absolutely retarded leadership from the top combined with a customer-avoidance attitude at the bottom that lead to CC's demise. The execs would never fully commit to any program or initiative so we were left in the dust on things like Geek Squad, home theater installation services, etc. The execs will cry about market competition and a bad economy, but it was just terrible leadership that sunk that ship, nothing more.
The premise of this article and letter suggests that Target ever had customer service. (Then again, perhaps I'm bitter because for years my local store was the worst Target ever created. Now that I'm in the 'burbs in VA they're more likely to have stock, though not more likely to have open registers.)
But on a serious note, that really does suck tremendously for the employees, and is a lousy thing to do. Because god forbid that people who work hard as many hours in the week as they're allowed (and in customer-facing retail, which is soul-sucking -- I've been there) have access to medical care. Or make enough money to pay their rent. *sigh*
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Really? All the Targets I've been to have been very well-staffed and full of open and fast-moving lines. Where in the VA suburbs are you located? I could see if it was toward the boonies, there might be more stock (fewer shoppers) and fewer lines. But anywhere near DC, expediency is the keyword.
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The Target near me is fantastic with one glaring exception: shopping carts. It is the weirdest thing, sometimes you will go there and have to wait over 20 minutes for carts to be delivered to the upper floor (where the shopping takes place, the lower floor is the parking lot). Aside from that, I love shopping at Target.
You're lucky! Where I live, there are always ridiculous lines, and only a few lanes open. It's so aggravating!
We mainly go to one of the ones in Falls Church. (There are two equidistant from us... it's basically a coin toss which one we pick.)
I've had to wait in a number of extraordinary lines, though nothing like the \"one cashier for an entire store\" mentality I used to encounter all the time in NYC. Having things in stock makes it worthwhile, though.
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Every time you shop at Wal-Mart, God kills a Target team lead.
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Every time I shop at Wal Mart, I wish I was at Target.
Whenever I feel bad about myself as a person, feel like I'm a nobody, and get depressed, I just take a trip to my local Wal Mart and walk around. I feel better about myself almost instantly.
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A+!
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Target apparently has not learned the lesson that no one will beat Walmart on price. Target should be growing their senior staff, not cutting it.
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Wait...so let me get this straight. You're saying that ~8,000 people are going to lose their healthcare???
I only ask because many of the people I work with are the staunch right-wing anti--Obama types that swear that people loosing health care in this country is extremely rare and only happens to drug addicts and the like.
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Most people I know who are opposed to universal health care are people who've never had to live with the fear of not having health care or the fear of getting sick because of inability to pay for health care.
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Very true unfortunetly. Until you are in the position you don't know how scary it is and people assume it must be your own fault if you don't have healthcare. Even if you have it you might not be able to afford half of what you need.
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Stereotype much?
Not at all. I'm just stating the facts. Many of the people I work with are mindless right-wing nutjobs.
I know this since I see all of their emails when they violate corporate policy and send out those half cocked, alarmist right-wing chain letters; like the one that says there will be a line on tax forms this year where you have to list all firearms you own.
\"Not at all.\" Except when you do.
Read much? I did not say \"all\" of the people who work here are right-wing nutjobs, I said many are. How is that stereotyping? Some of the people I work with are hard-core left, some in the middle, but many of the conservative types are the nutjob type. I'm also basing this not on opinion but on something concrete i.e. their email.
Did I touch a nerve?
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If they reduce the hours of those employees below 32 hrs a week then they no longer have to offer them health coverage. This is a common practice today for many companies to reduce overhead costs.
It amazes me that people don't realize how easy it is to lose what you have.
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I am not one of those people, but they will still say that. The current US population is 308,610,000 Million, give or take a few thousand. 8000 people losing healthcare represents 0.00259% of americans losing their healthcare, hardly a large number of people, and by this statistic still extremely rare.
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Remember according to Republicans, everyone has equal access to and can get the best health care in the world. Of course, paying for it is another matter.
Yes, this happens all the time. Wal-Mart is notorious for it. Also, many kids of Wal-Mart workers on are public aid or publicly funded children's health care programs because their health care is so crappy/expensive. I imagine many Target employee families will have to resort to the same thing. So, you don't want to pay for health care? Guess what, you're still paying for health care.
Please, do people actually fall for this? No one has equal access to health care in any country. If you actually believe that liberal and conservative elites, in Europe and Canada, use the same health care as the general public then I suggest you do some research on the subject.
I'm American - I've got and lost health care more times than most I think sadly. My brushes with other health care systems have generally been favorable though.
My sister broke her arm while in Canada - got right in, they xrayed her arm, put it in a cast and she's just fine today - cost notta. Mind you she isn't a citizen or anything.
My dad while a missionary in Scotland (this was a year ago or so) needed his colon resected (I think that's the term) - he's just fine today and the cost was zero.
So far it was pretty equal. Last time I got ill and didn't have insurance I was sick for a week - wonder how much that cost my employer, and yeah it was something that a doctor could have prescribed something for that would have made me better much quicker.
What does this have to do with the elite getting special health care? If a foreigner breaks an arm in America they will immediately be treated as well.
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Sounds like Target workers need a union....
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Yeah, that way they won't even be able to get rid of the lazy or incompetent.
Ummm I don't think the executives can join the union, lol, maybe I'm wrong?
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Absolutely, we all know that's a privilege that only belongs to corporations on the executive level.
Point taken. There are pro's and con's to unions. You mention a con. A pro would be that they wouldn't be able to pull something like this.
Because the union was so successful in Detroit.
Auto Makers: Hey guys, things are really tight, sales are down, and we can't make ends meet. Can we forgoe the mandatory raise?
Unions: NO, You can't do that!
Auto Makers: Well, we have no other option. I guess we will need to close our doors for a while.
Unions: On Second thought...
When I was in college, I worked summers and vacations at a place that had a labor union. Sure it was nice to get an annual raise \"just because\", but I worked hard, and was reliable, and was willing to do some of the terrible jobs because I wanted the money. My reward, My managers would randomly give me a raise because they saw I was an asset to the company and was willing to jump in whenever and however I could. Even though I was only summer help, I was making as much as some of the people that had been there for many years.
y
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The difference though, is that Detroit automakers were/are able to end around the unions by opening foreign factories. Target (and other businesses that must hire local and cannot outsource their staff ie teachers, nurses, waiters etc) don't have this negotiating option.
Target isn't hurting for money - they still manage to pay their executives million of dollars a year...
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The unions aren't the reason that Detroit had its problems. I'm not pro or anti union, as I am not in a union, but my wife is a teacher, and is one. I don't agree with everything they do. But they do protect employees from EXECUTIVES who decide to piss on the 'little' people.
Detroit failed for multitude of reasons. Starting with drastic difference in salary structure for employees and CEOs. (Check the stats, the differences weren't nearly as bad 20-50 years ago).
Additionally, Detroit bombed because they made poor quality cars, and counted on \"American Loyalty\" to keep buying them. Look at Toyota and Honda. They made better quality cars, for less money. If I buy a product, and it breaks in 1/2 the time another of its kind, guess what my next purchase will be.
Fix Often Repair Daily jokes didn't appear from nowhere.
I think people deserve a livable wage, and health care. And I do believe employees should not be in fear of their jobs to the point that they'll accept every pittance given to them.
I can appreciate the frustration that people (including union members) feel sometimes with how difficult it can be to terminate poor employees. That said, I have yet to encounter a collective bargaining agreement that prevents termination for cause, or permits people to not work. The fact of the matter is that management needs to discipline and document those actions taken. Behind every lazy worker is a lazy manager.
I have seen lots of union contracts (especially in retail) that prevent companies from making unilateral decisions like this one. The people that work at Target are just as invested in the company's success as the managers and stock holders are. They should have a say in the future of the business as well.
(/sarcasm)Yes because terminating union employees is easy! (/end sarcasm)
\"The teachers have been in the Rubber Room for an average of about three years, doing the same thing every day—which is pretty much nothing at all. Watched over by two private security guards and two city Department of Education supervisors, they punch a time clock for the same hours that they would have kept at school—typically, eight-fifteen to three-fifteen. Like all teachers, they have the summer off. The city’s contract with their union, the United Federation of Teachers, requires that charges against them be heard by an arbitrator, and until the charges are resolved—the process is often endless—they will continue to draw their salaries and accrue pensions and other benefits.\"
Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/31/090831fa_fact_brill#ixzz0eUpXy5ch
I love the fact that this was under the heading of psuedo layoffs. That description of the subject matter is dead on.
Ah, glorious short-term profit-chasing. FML.
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I recommend Daniel Suarez's book Daemon and the sequel for an interesting story about corporations and the working class. Some of the shit our companies are doing to the employees sounds awfully familiar! http://www.amazon.com/Daemon-Daniel-Suarez/dp/0451228731/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265212308&sr=8-1
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My thoughts exactly. Bravo Target, you're following Circuit City's gameplan into extinction. Why did I shop at Target, becuase they had better customer service than Walmart and nicer stuff generally.
\"at the probable expense of customer service\" - so... at little or no cost, then?
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Oh they will likely still expect those left to perform the same if not better.
the same exact thing happened with Borders a few months ago. they hired a bunch of part timers and then took full time status away from most of the fulltimers that had been there for years or since the store even opened. everytime someone would complain about their hours getting cut the management would say that they are being given less hours by corporate, yet they were hiring all these new employees. they were just trying to phase out the old people. but as most of you probably know borders is in the s***hole anyways, so I think it just goes to show this corporate bottom line business doesnt really work. they just make their employees unhappy and less efficient.
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Comparison of Walmart and Target per square foot:
Walmart uses low prices to drive traffic but has lower margins and thus lower profit per square foot. Can Target play this game?
$450 sales psf Walmart
$275 sales psf Target
$19 operating profit psf Walmart
$24 operating profit psf Target
http://seekingalpha.com/article/93383-wal-mart-vs-target-a-better-starting-point
As a former Target employee I can tell you that this will effect the customer experience. Most employees were in high turn-over positions. Team Leads were the only people that both knew answers to questions other than \"where is [blank]?\" and they were the only people management could hold responsible for daily tasks not being completed.
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I've noticed a definite decline in cleanliness and organization at my local Target, especially in the shoe section. Now I wonder whether this is part of it. It's a disaster every single time I go there now, regardless of the time of day.
On the flip side, I LOVE Target's new in-house generic, Up & Up. Their freezer and storage bags were just reviewed by Consumer Reports and found to be better than most of the name brands. I'm a big fan of their Head & Shoulders replacement shampoo. Love love love.
I've found that \"Up & Up\" is a significant downgrade from their old Target brand stuff. Somewhere during the transition from the Target brand name generics to Up & Up, the quality went down and the package sizes shrunk. I'm now paying more for poor quality substitutes of the old Target name generics that I had purchased for years.
Target has been going downhill for years. It used to be a nice alternative to Wal-Mart, but they've gotten lazy and miserly. The shelves aren't well-stocked, the aisles are a mess, the product selection has decreased, etc. I've been reluctantly going to Wal-Mart more often simply because there's no point in paying extra at Target for the same awful experience.
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They reformulated it last year (I don't know if H&S did as well), and now it has a bit of a funky smell. Still recommend it though. Also their generic Listerine.
Internet stores are eating the lunch of brick and mortars for anything mid- and high-priced. Groceries are the only growth market for B&Ms because it's the only thing that isn't cost effective to order online.
So this sounds like a reasonable plan to me. I mean, people who stock shelves and ring registers are not skilled, so why not reduce their pay and benefits? If they don't like it, they can get a job somewhere else... oh, wait, they better like it because there are no other jobs elsewhere. Welcome to the new economy.
My fiance is a Target stocker - and has a Bachelor's degree. Pays 10.25. He's got better hours than I do!
So that blanket statement doesn't really apply.
Target has always had an \"up or out\" policy. When I worked there, their favorite technique was to make sure sure your review scores would always fall 1 point below what you would need to get a raise. Regardless of how much you busted your ass, regardless of how many customer thank yous you received.
I put in 5 1/2 years and was an electronics area manager, I went into my last review with a sealed envelope with a score of 1 less than a raise written on an index card inside it. When my review with the store assistant manager (a straight-from-business-school ass hat) was done, I had him open the envelope, lo and behold it matched. I told him to consider it my 2 weeks notice and that he was f'ed in the head if he thought I'd bust my ass another year in the *hope* of getting a raise. I cashed out over 250 hours of vacation that me and my 'less than satisfactory' performance had not used in my time there.
It's one of my pet peeves at all work places is they have a highest rating in performance reviews but don't give it anyone so you'll always have something to strive for.
I've got a cooperative project for Target corporate managers and the horses they rode in on...
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-480174-100x100.png\")
They do the same in the corporate world. I can get great reviews and bonuses throughout the year but am never a \"1\" (the best) when it comes time for performance reviews -- with one exception. Last year I received my highest rated review ever, but we were having a salary freeze so the point was moot.
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They do the same thing at Wal-Mart. I busted my ass out in the TLE (Tire and Lube Express) and was always getting compliments from customers and co-workers. The Asst. Manager who did my reviews would always say I deserved an full score, but would always set it at the average score because as she said \"Thats just how we do these reviews\". So I quickly jumped that ship for a management position at Albertsons, 9 months later I'm laid off. Go Figure.
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I agree! By the time I quit, I had been promoted up to being the full-time, main store Operator (answers the phones, runs in-store communications & fitting rooms). I literally got a point off of my review for \"expecting too much out of colleagues.\"
Yes, I was too good at my (menial!) job, and dared to somehow expect others would perform their jobs as well.
It's not like I was expecting a bunch of trained monkeys to recite Shakespeare either. Just not to drool all over the merchandise would've been nice. But, still, I'm pissed that something like QUALITY and STANDARDS affected my raise. =/
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wow I can't believe they actually \"punished\" you for expecting people to do their jobs!
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That's nothing, I was docked on my performance review at walmart for not being best friends with all my co-workers, despite having absolutely nothing in common with any of them.
How stupid to kill off what is one of the companies strengths. At least the Target stores in our area are usually clean and properly stocked. They also have (had?) competent people who seemed to give a damn more than many retail workers.
I knew something was wrong when they started their new trick to force employees to randomly approach customers and ask if they can help them find something. The week they started this I was cornered by every single employee on the floor that was anywhere near where I walked. It was surreal and creepy. It is also the kind of mindless nonsense that comes out of really bad corporate management.
Whomever Target hired in the last 6-9 months in the executive level needs to be fired, or stuffed into a closet where they can stop harming the company. I saw the exact same death spiral start at Gateway when they hired a bunch of AT&T execs. They started implementing stupid cliche corporate policies that just don't work and dragged the company to their demise.
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I don't think that's new. When I had orientation for a summer position in 2006 one of the things they stressed the most was \"Can I help you find something?\"
When I worked for Target we had to ask that to everyone. We had secret shoppers and would get written up if we didn't ask. I was a Specialist for them when this stuff started going down in 2007.
I did the job of two specialists because they decided to combine to Level 2 Chargeback and Receiving Specialist positions.
So, this isn't something new. It's Target trying to be Wal Mart.
I think both companies need to pay into the Medicaid systems to offset the cost of their employees relying on government health care.
Target isn't the only one doing that these days - Home Depot and Lowe's employees won't leave you alone either. I go to Home Depot often enough that most of them know I don't need help, but there are some noobs who still offer. How are they going to help me when I've spent more time in the store than they have?
I appreciate the effort, but at least wait until I'm staring blankly at something before you offer to help.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-44211-100x100.png\")
Really? I need tracking hounds and a dart gun to pin down an employee in the Home Depot around here.
The Buckle game? Try to walk to the back of the store and out again without being approached my a store associate.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-425645-100x100.png\")
Ugh, I went to an Olympia Sports recently where they were doing this. The store wasn't big- you could stand by one wall and see just about all the stock right to the other wall, yet in five minutes, I had four different people ask me if I needed help. Seriously? Yes, I need help being left alone so I can shop! I left without buying anything after the fourth person asked me. I appreciate the offer, but once or twice is enough, people!
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I had the misfortune of working at a target for several months. There are only maybe a dozen or less full time employees in the store at anytime and most of those are the \"team leaders\" or admin in the back. All of the new hires and the rest of the staff are \"full time\" part time workers. By scheduling everyone just short of full time hours the only benefit is the employee discount.
The worst thing is Target doesn't serve customers only \"guests\". If a \"guest\" is referred to as a customer it deserves a talking down to by a team leader.
I've been shopping at Target for years, and the only employees who have ever had a clear, direct impact on my shopping experience are the cashiers. Perhaps it would be more clear if this will impact me if the OP told us what these specialists actually do (aside from \"knowing where everything is\").
Comparing Target to Circuit City is overly simplistic. Circuit City was an electronics store, where people often know very little about the products and need help from someone who is knowledgeable. When's the last time you asked a Target employee to explain the difference between two products? Additionally, Circuit City was in trouble before they got rid of their commissioned salespeople. Their staffing change didn't create their problems, it just failed to reverse the trend.
I don't care if Target or Walmart don't make their positions attractive to employees, because these aren't jobs that people should be hoping to stay in for a long time. There are many, many jobs that require no education, no skills, and pay much better than Target. A job at Target should be something you do until you find something better.
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I was once a Target working teenager myself. I worked primarily as a shelf stocker and my vaguely obsessive-compulsive dedication to order forced me to be good at my job. There were lots of other teenagers working there in my day as there are now I'm sure, but I had a good amount of coworkers in their 30's-60's who weren't just trying to earn from extra cash, they needed their Target jobs to make ends meet. Now, I'd never speak ill of my former comrades or retail workers in general, and yes, I'd say a lot of them were well qualified to do other things, but the fact of the matter is that in America, opportunity may be equal, but aptitude is not. That isn't to say that some people are inherently inferior to others, we simply don't all have the same talents and capacities. For some people, retail really is probably the best they can do, and I'm sure a lot of those people have come to terms with that. With that in mind, they probably don't expect \"good\" wages, but I think it's fair for them to expect livable wages, dependable hours and at least some benefits to go with them. Taking that away from them is just a dick move on Target's part...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1177-100x100.png\")
believe it or not, the department managers in stores do quite a lot but it's not stuff that you see.
Simply knowing where everything is is a great help and it's something that takes a while to do, and always changes with Planogram shifts. It's immensely helpful when you ask where something is and they say \"2 aisles down on the left, bottom shelf next to the ______ .\" Instead of \"Uhhh, I don't know I think it's in the same aisle as the ceiling fans.\"
Plus department heads take care of localized ordering for special fast-selling items, make sure their department's stock is properly put out and faced for the customers, make sure all the clothes are on the appropriate hangers, etc. You'd be surprised how little the \"unskilled labor\" actually care about the job they do. Often product gets shoved anywhere there's space instead of where it goes, which leads to pricing problems at the register. Plus it makes the store look shabby and people complain and don't want to shop there. This is a full-time job. It's also a point of pride.
There also seems to be a divide in your mind between skilled and unskilled labor, and the contrast between the two seems to be quite stark. Akin to the difference between a neurosurgeon and \"Ding! Fries are done!\" The truth is that there are as many shades of skill and talent as there are people, and for some, customer service and running a good department is a point of pride for them.
This is counteracted by big-box retailers' constant notion that it's a good idea when revenue's down in the first quarter to lay off employees and reduce hours. They don't realize that their employees are also their customers. Every person that has their hours reduced or benefits taken away is 1 less person that can spend money somewhere else. It's an accelerating spiral. Workers get laid off or reduced pay/hours/benefits; their pockets get tighter, they spend less; retailers see less revenue, they cut back even more, laying off and reducing pay for more employees; who now are stuck in the cycle.
Retailers don't want to admit it, but they're the starting point of the cycle. People with no money and families aren't going to be the ones spending more than they have \"for the sake of the growth of the economy.\" It's up to business owners to take a hit every now and then, and for shareholders to not dump their stock at the first downward turn to turn the economy around and really generate decent equilibrium.
You read a lot into my single mention of skills. I only mentioned it at all to avoid confusion about what types of other jobs I'm talking about. It's easy to say 'get a better job,' but when that better job requires skills or education it's easier said than done.
Most people who work at Target ARE qualified for better jobs that require no specialized skills or education, so I used those qualifiers to indicate that I'm only referring to better jobs that Target employees are already qualified for.
I understand that some people like working in retail, but shouldn't they expect compensation that reflects the fact that their job could be done just as well by a teenager? Why do people feel entitled to good wages for bad jobs?
Because we are forced into these jobs to build a job history or lack of other jobs and don't like that living on these wages is impossible without social assistance programs.
i think more workers need to seriously consider kicking the shit out of their boss. as you're beating him within an inch of his life explain that you understand he doesn't set the policies but that he's being held responsible because he's the willing tool of those that do. hopefully he'll seek revenge on _his_ bosses and the beatings will continue up the chain of command until the fat bastards at the top learn that actions have consequences and it might be time to consider treating their employees with a little more loyalty and respect.
Yeah, physical violence is the solution to all problems.
well it seems like hard work and dedication certainly haven't helped these people out. violence is the language that even the stupidest people understand.
Customer service? No exec cares about customer service anymore. They want maximum increase in profits even if it eventually sinks the company. Why? Because they will get paid regardless. Nobody thinks long term anymore. It's all about the quick buck, damn the consequences.
I avoid Walmart like the plague because that store is always dirty and messy. I loved my local target because it was always neat, clean and had helpful workers. I foresee that going downhill quickly. I know Target costs more than Target but I was willing to pay more for a clean store where I could find the stuff I needed. This sucks. I might have to invest in a Costco membership as well.
Uhoh, I think you just kicked off an endless loop. Target costs more than Target, but is cheaper than Target! :)
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I agree that Circuit City tried something similar with disaster written all over it. Which reminds me, what happened to the CEO of Circuit City? I do have to add that if I was Target, I would not consider Michael's tone above \"management material\" so maybe this is for the best.
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I just personally got off the phone with the customer comment line 1-800-440-0680 its like press 1 for English then like option 2 to get to customer experiences. At first the lady tried to act like this was most likely a hoax until I told her that the lady at our local target who gave me the phone number verified that this was real. I told them in a very matter of fact way about what i spend in their store on a regular basis and that I would find another place that treats their employees better and how wrong it was to do this to people that know what they are doing just so they don't have to pay benefits. After they realized where this was going I was ushered off the phone call pretty quickly. With the we will pass this information on to the correct people. I encourage you all to take 10 minutes out of your day and call this number. Let them know this is not okay to do their employees.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-348183-100x100.png\")
Did these 8000 employees buy Zhu Zhu pets?
Awesome.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-313764-100x100.png\")
Target's new slogan: \"We're not Walmart, we're more like Kmart.\"
Same thing happnend at JC Penney a few years back. This is the main reason I will NEVER work for any company where low prices are one of their selling points. Profits need to be made and costs have to to be cut from somewhere. The only variable costs most retailers have is payroll.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-95660-100x100.png\")
I worked at Target from 2006 to 2007 as a cashier. The management was never the best, as I was lied to many occasions and was never placed into my desired position as a starbucks barista, though they went through x amount of stupid, dimwitted teenagers instead of just letting me go over since I was already register trained.
Asside from the butthurt of that situation, I believe the team leads were an important part of the way Target worked so well. We were organized, and we got things done quickly and efficiently when we were broken up into smaller organized groups. It was always helpful to have a manager near or at the registers at all times to help me when I needed it too, so less hang ups for the customers.
My opinion of target has been dwindling since I left though. They dont listen to their lower teir workers very well anymore, and the way the target I used to work at has changed over the past couple years is just disturbing. no one knows where anything is anymore, they dont know about any product, they wont even speak to you and be friendly. They're not being trained or something, I'm sure whoevers running the store just doesnt care anymore. I remember when working at a job means that you had to LEARN things and HELP the customer and make people feel welcome. That was one of the reasons I absolutely, downright refused to use the canned responces at the register and ask peple if they want a credit card. That's when I knew it was going downhill and the top dogs were starting to dismiss the idea of great customer service and let the greed settle in.
Shame on you Target. You're going to end up crappy like walmart, or bankrupt like Circuit City if you keep hiring high school dropouts who have no ambition in life and stand around your store like lumps for half the pay of a competent person.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-113837-100x100.png\")
Looks like they took a cue from Circuit City and why that ship sank.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-248253-100x100.png\")
Oh fuck me...I AM one of those specialists. There was a meeting of the ETL's on Monday, and now I know why.
Pissed? Nervous? Can't think straight? Oh yeah. All of those.
Remember this. Bookmark it. Next year when Wal-Mart swallows Target you know to blame TARGET not Wal-Mart.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-60062-100x100.png\")
I'm off to Costco now.
Damn you consumerist for taking forever to post my messages. Need to get that fixed..
This has been going on for a while at Target.
Some of the nastier managers were finding ways to get rid of people making over $8.00 an hour there, even if they didn't take benefits.
I'm so glad I don't have to work in retail anymore, I feel bad for those that are stuck working for companies such as Target and Walmart.
The finding ways to get rid of employees making over 8 dollars an hour is nothing but a psuedo layoff.
The problem in finding ways to fire people or going on firing binges is that it is bad for morale and disrupts the flow of business;any business because someone is going to have to learn or muddle through somebody else's job. I've worked in many jobs and industries and experience helps no ifs and butts. Attitude and 'overpaid' workers are another issue. If a company doesn't know how use it's experience shame on them.
Why the heck do you think this site even exists. Because corporate customer service stinks. Why does it stink? Why do so many CSRs and their manager seem like idiots? -This is what happens when you are constantly getting rid of your experience. The replacements must rely on corporate proceedures and training. If the proceedures or training are flawed to begin the inexperienced will seem like idiots. It takes time/experience to learn what to actually do. In other words you wind up with a workforce that doesn't know what the heck is going on.
Well, there goes my idea of creating a Baby Registry there. The return policy and service is bad enough without getting rid of TLs. Sounds like something they would do. I worked there for 2 years and became a TL only because the previous one quit. I had a college degree and my superiors didn't. Finally became a TL and then got a job offer for my degree... so I left. Was fun while it lasted. Got health benefits for 20 days.
It does sound like they are moving to a Wal-Mart based way of doing things. Only a few top people, who are mainly around registers and in the back rooms. The salesfloor will be manned by whomever will come in to work that day and the nice clean stores will slowly turn to crap. K-Mart anyone?
Hello, there seem to be some questions about what is going on here...
I'm the \"tipster\"
When this was announced, it was a punch to the gut for all of us at the ground level. Specialist positions were the stepping stone to management for a lot of us, it's like a department head for Wal-Mart but not anymore. Now those opportunities are gone.
Specialists were the people who cleaned up the store and made it seem nice, we arranged how things would look, implemented new changes in the layout, keep the shelves full, and talked to management about to move the area forward in terms of sales, repaired the equipment when it broke, we were in charge of coming up with ideas to move product better, we were responsible for the departments success or failure and were held accountable to that.
I firmly believe that the customer/consumer deserves everything we can give them. I have driven guests who bought things that were too heavy for their vehicle to their house for them to install it on my own time. When digital cameras came in, I sat down and learned them inside and out to teach others to do the same so that when people came into the store the information that they wanted woulud be there. I did not let a customer walk away until I was confident that they knew what they were doing and if they weren't, I'd stop the sale. People need to be treated the way I would like to be treated.
They are telling us that we do not have worry about hours but the leaked e-mail has turned that information on its ear. I refuse to compete with my felllow employees for health benefits. This company was above that a few years ago until the current board decided that customer care was too expensive.
Those pictures of the disaster that is Shoes in this article is becoming pretty common in all Targets. They have stripped the Salesfloor (employees) bare. It is now almost impossible to get down with our tasks in our given time allotment.
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It's easy to offer low ,low prices when you :
A) Get a free building site , site prep , utilities , access road and other tax goodies ,provided by local politicians who will take credit for low wage , dead end jobs that they \"created\". ( This very thing is happening in my North Georgia community right now and the local county potentates would have you believe that they have solved the problem of world hunger)
B) Pay so little and limit hours to just below the \"full time\" threshold so that employees must turn to public assistance programs to survive.
C) Abandon your site when it is no longer shiny and new and bar competitors from using it while you repeat (A) and (B) above.
There . You didn't need an MBA to learn how to offer \"stack deep and sell cheap\" !
Nice to know slave labor has spread from the manufacturing sector to retail as well!
Seriously, pretty soon Target will be a full fledged WalMart clone.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1524613-100x100.png\")
\"Apparently the email went on to say that HR will receive another email within 3-4 months directing stores to reduce current specialist hours to below 32 hours a week. Reason being the company wants to get all the current specs in the company OFF the full time benefits plans to reduce cost. (i.e. health insurance, etc)\"
___________________________________
BS. These employee's will be re-assigned as PT employees \"legally\", but how much do you want to beet that they'll still be working 40+ hours. Only with their reassignment in papework, corporate can get away without paying these folks bennies. Companies in Michigan have been doing this for years and they do it regularly with temp employee's. Once a temp reaches the 89th day, they're cut because state law mandates that anyone working a 90th and beyond day has to be hired FT.
On another note, about 20 years ago after working for a temp agency at a company in Grand Rapids, I was denied unemployment and the staff at this temp agency was just not going to discuss it further with me. Well after calling our state unemployment agency, the womanl on the phone told me, \"yeah right, we'll see about them denying you bennies\". Well I got them.
There are about 1500 Target stores in NA so this should affect about 5 people per store. A lot of how much this hurts will depend on the inidividual store manager. For example, my wife is currently a Target specialist. She's regularly scheduled for only 28-30 hours in her specialist position. However, her immediate supervisor as well as the supervisor another level up regularly find work for her in other areas such as sales floor, or pricing and planning which regularly put her at 38 hours per week. So this may simply be a reallocation of resources rather than a plot to deny benefits to existing employees.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-91201-100x100.png\")
They should just fire 4k. That way the remaining 4k will be so grateful to have jobs, they'll provide excellent, if strained, customer service.
(j/k)
Sadly, that isn't a joke...
With all due respect this is Target. The only time anyone asks for help is trying to find an aisle. Other than that a zombie can work there.
When I was a full time summer employee \"full time\" was 36 hours scheduled a week. So there was less chance of getting overtime pay.
I've never been impressed by the \"customer service\" while at Target, so no loss there. Customer service there seems to be only marginally better than Walmart in my opinion and that gap is closing rapidly.
If the OP would have used less acronyms or explain the acronyms, I could have understand their points better.
What the hell is ETL-HL and ETL-HR? Sorry I never worked at Target but I guess many people never did either.
During the booming years before 2008, there are a lot of under-qualified, over paid people. They got their high pay not because they know a lot, do a lot but just because they work there for a long time (senority). Many places turn into - I have been there longer so I deserve to get paid more situation. I have known union members tightening screws all day at factories that makes over $30 an hour just because they have been turning screws for the last 20 years. I don't know the pay scale there but let's just make a number. Do we need to pay someone $20 an hour to put stuff on the shelves if we can get a college student to do it for $12. Does Target need to hire stockers with 8 years experience? Specialist is a mock title to get a higher pay scale in my opinion.
Target has the duty to maximize their profits to their share holders. No, I am not Republican.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-716675-100x100.png\")
I'm guessing ETL = Executive Team Leader,
ETL-HL = Exec Team Leader, Hardlines (That's your staple merchandise, like toys, shoes, etc)
ETL-HR = Exec Team Leader, Human Resources (most of us know who human resources are.)
Except that it not just college students working there. Not all of us are so eager or happy to be forced onto social assistance programs just to have a bad apartment and food to eat.
I have a feeling Target is slowly entering the death spiral. It has nothing to do with their current prices, or customer service, but just plain over-expansion, and people not buying anything. Ten years ago, Target came to my area to the first time...now they have stores pretty much everywhere. It looks like they are desperate to save money wherever they can. My local store was recently remodeled with a HUGE grocery section added in...but in the process, every other (non-apparel) department was shrunk considerably. Now, I'm forced to go to Walmart or Kmart half the time because I can't find it at Target. And this store is surrounded by three major chain grocery stores...I'm not going to buy prepackaged meat and product at Target when I can go to a real market.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-8966-100x100.png\")
Target is losing their niche. People would go there when they wanted something of a slightly higher quality than what you could get at Wal-Mart. They were willing to pay a bit more than at Wally World for the better shopping experience too. Although the lack of Muzak in the store is refreshing, the merchandising of product is getting worse and worse. They're slipping into the realm of Wally World from a decade back.
It's no longer the same shopping experience I've had for 15 years running.
And now they do this? Makes me think that they're in dire shape financially.
Remember Mervyns? Well Target is just Mervyn's once they went out. Riteaid did the same thing to all their employees years ago and as a result walgreen's is kicking their butts. Penny's is on the same track. I for one rarely shop at target unless it is for some little seasonal item, and I will never go back since they decide to rip off their employess concerning insurance. Come on, if your going to cut costs, it should always start at the top, in management. Not the people who make or break your bottom line.
I agree that target is losing their niche, before their products used to be of higher quality than Walmart's and they cost about the same. Now, their products are the same as Walmart, they just cost more. It was the place you went if you wanted to pay a bit more than Walmart for a higher quality product but now your just paying more for the same or worse quality (and with a worse return policy). I personally find Target to be very expensive, and see price increases on items that used to be a decent price, but those prices are inching up.
The stores that seem to be expanding or doing well here are discount stores like Big Lots, TJ Maxx for clothes, a semi-local chain called Ollies and anywhere else that offers products at prices lower than retail. This must mean nothing at retail is selling, if the lower priced chains like Ollie's are scooping up all the inventory.
I can tell you that people are buying nothing but groceries at most stores in my area, just from watching people shop, they are not going to the apparel department to pick up an extra shirt or to the electronics to buy a DVD, they are going in, buying groceries that they have to have and walking out. This is the majority of shoppers.
I can also tell you that retail is dead in my area, the Xmas rush cleaned everyone out so bad here that every time I went into a store on a non-weekend day there were about 5 customers in the store, with the exception of Kmart who never gets more than 5 customers in times other than the holidays.
I have also seen a decline in product quality across retail for clothing yet the prices stay the same or go up, the shirts are so thin that you can see right through them and they still cost 19.99 each. Some of the hoodies I have tried on ended up shedding all over my T-shirt and they cost 29.99 each. Please explain to me why Walmart is charging $25 for a plain, zip up sweatshirt. There is no way i am paying these prices for retail store clothing that should be cheap and not more than the department store but now retail clothing prices are matching department store prices while department stores offer slightly higher quality clothing.
Here's hoping one of them is 'Sean', a manager at the Martinsburg WV store. When the cashier shorted me 5 bucks, he was a smartass and threatened to call the Sheriff's Department!!!
I kinda' wanted him to..my son is a Lt there. HA!
Sad, it appears that the Circuit City method (which worked so well for them) has infected Target. Did they hire ex-CC execs? Anyway its a shame. Should a Target Death Watch counter get started now or wait until this transistion completes?
And also doesn't this continue a solid argument for health insurance reform? Most of the country is now against reform even though most of the country is effected by the current status quo that does them little good. I guess a little \"socialism\" spice into the mix really does change the taste.
EECB to the CEO: Gregg.Steinhafel@target.com
isn't that similar to the end of circuit city ? (both have red also)
Target has been going downhill since I started working there umpteen years ago. It's to the point that Wal-Mart, after years of being scrutinized so heavily, is becoming a better workplace than Target. Target hides in the shadows of all the bad press that Wal-Mart gets, doing exactly the same things as Wal-Mart, yet getting away with it because of the illusion of superiority that Target cultivates.
Target is just as uncaring about their workers as Wal-Mart. Target is just as anti-union as Wal-Mart. Target is just as greedy as Wal-Mart. Target is just more media-savvy and politically correct than Wal-Mart and they use that to their advantage.
Every year health benefits cost more and the plans are more bare bones. Every year hours are cut, so that we have fewer and fewer sales floor employees and more employees fail to qualify for health coverage. Wages are lower than competing retailers, even though salaries are supposedly surveyed in the locality of each store to determine adequate base pay. Stores are encouraged not to give too many high review scores because that results in having to pay employees more. Every person accrues a different amount of vacation at a different rate based on position and length of service instead of an actual week or two weeks of vacation. New hires can actually max out their vacation hours during the year and lose anything after the limit. Target offers the employee discount to spouses and dependents but not to domestic partners, even though domestic partners are eligible to get health insurance via their partner.
Before I worked here, I thought Target was great. It's not, it's no better than any other big box retailer. It's a greedy, self-serving, employee abusing bureaucracy of mindless corporate speak run by rich people, the same as any other. Target just has a better PR department.
i know what impsqueak is saying in work in a cafe at borders and they scew even the seattle best cafe workers on hours. They take cafe hours and give them to the bookstore. They tried cutting my hours to make me quit. This week they said that corporate won't give them hours unless the store makes sells. Well we're top in the nation and we still don't get hours. We have more sales then the other stores in our district. Somone is getting money, it's not the employees though.
Good.
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Interesting that Target also recently announced that it is spending $1 billion to renovate 340 stores.
Are you FXXKING kidding me? I've been to Target a million times and I've NEVER had any contact with any employee other than the cashier. Not that I shopped at Circuit City much because they were usually overpriced on everything, but at least at Circuit City the employees interacted with the customers. At Target, besides at the cash register, where is the employee/customer interaction? Where is this great loss that you Target people are talking about? Don't get me wrong, it definately isn't cool that you're going to lose your benefits and eight hours of pay a week - that is not cool at all. But for you to pretend like Target customers suddenly aren't going to buy cheap shoes or carts full of plastic crap made in China because the \"ultra talented\" Target workers don't have health insurance is an argument anyone with a brain can see though immediately.
I stopped shopping at WalMart several years ago after learning that the tradeoff for \"cheap stuff\" is an extremely abusive level of treatment for employees. For me, educating others has usually helped direct them to begin different shopping patterns, often to Target. There are some great regional stores that will likely replace Target on my list of stores to ignore as they join the list WalMart and other corporations who believe that seeking the lowest possible level of employee support is best for business.
Target employees are our friends and teenagers of our friends. Maybe if they lowered the profit margins they could afford to keep employees at their current status. If they do this, I will look to shop elsewhere.
I actually emailed the president of Target after reading this article. He very promptly replied (on a Saturday no less) and is adamant that this article is completely false. He says that Target is actually hiring new employees and opening new stores, although at a slower pace than in previous years. He claims that the are NOT cutting employee benefits or hours in any way.
That's one of the problems with anonymous sources such as \"Michael.\" It's becomes impossible to trace the original source or the claims being made. Could \"Michael\" be a competitor from another store (think Whole Foods aquisition of a competing health food chain) trying to take away business from Target? Could he be a disgruntled employee? Before \"facts\" get printed, shouldn't they be substantiated through proper documentation rather than relying on what someone claims he or she was told?
Target didn't by any chance hire some Circuit City execs did they? They are using the same toss the talent to reduce costs strategy.
Hopefully there is some economist that is updating his book with the examples of Circuit City, Borders and now Target.
Damn, time to dump my shares of TGT.
That's okay, though. I've had them since they were 26, so now that they're @ 50, then that will be a decent profit---but that begs the question: where do I put the $$ now?
Definitely, this is Circuit City all over again. How wonderful.
So we give target a few years to writhe in financial agony before slipping away into the cold dark night of obscurity...