Target Downsizes in Minneapolis, Relocates 3,500 Workers
Target is moving out of its City Center offices in downtown Minneapolis one year after the coronavirus made its way around the globe and the company’s corporate workforce was forced to work remotely.
The new development is part of the big-box retailer’s plan to allow employees to continue to work from home, at least partially, post-pandemic.
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“We are embracing this moment to think differently and reimagine the future of work at headquarters,” Melissa Kremer, Target executive vice president and chief human resources officer, said in an email to employees Thursday. “Our hybrid ‘Flex for Your Day’ approach will offer team members the benefits of both virtual and on-site collaboration when we gradually return to headquarters later this year.
“Our headquarters will always play a central role in who we are and how we work at Target,” she continued. “We believe in the culture, collaboration and competitive advantages of working together at our vibrant headquarters in the Twin Cities and around the world. But the reality is that ‘Flex for Your Day’ will require less office space.”
Kremer added that the roughly 3,500 Target employees currently based in the City Center building will be relocated to one of Target’s four other spaces in the Twin Cities region, split between downtown Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park, Minn., later in the year. About 12,000 corporate Target team members call the area home.
A representative from Target confirmed that the company is not laying off employees in the move and that the Twin Cities will remain the retailer’s headquarters.
“We have an incredible opportunity to build a new future together with redesigned workspaces, technology investments and more tools for connection and collaboration,” Kremer said in the email.
Target is just one of many companies that were forced to rethink working conditions amid the pandemic. Some companies, such as Twitter, have given employees the option to work from home forever, while others are embracing a combination of in-person and remote working set-ups. Sporting goods and apparel company REI sold its corporate headquarters in Bellevue, Wash., last year to make way for smaller satellite offices, allowing some employees to continue working from home post-pandemic.
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