Target is a place where you swing by for toothpaste and leave with throw pillows, seasonal snacks, and a plant you didn’t plan on buying.
It’s one of the biggest names in American retail, nearly 2,000 stores strong and powered by a massive, often underappreciated workforce. Behind every red-shirted cashier, every stocked shelf, and every perfectly timed delivery is a team that now numbers close to half a million people.
Let’s break down what that actually means in 2025, how many people work at Target, what kind of jobs they’re doing, and what those numbers say about the company’s place in the broader economy.
Key Highlights
- Target employs around 440,000 people globally as of 2025, marking a 6% increase from 2024.
- The workforce spans retail, logistics, corporate, and digital roles, including subsidiaries like Shipt and Roundel.
- Diversity and inclusion are priorities, with over half of management roles held by women and 33% of store leaders being people of color.
- Despite industry challenges, Target’s workforce is stable, with no major layoffs or hiring surges reported in 2025.
Target’s Workforce in 2025
According to Macrotrends, as of February 1, 2025, marking the end of Target’s fiscal year, the company reports a global workforce of approximately 440,000 team members.
That number comes straight from financial disclosures and industry analysts, not just the general phrasing you’ll see on the corporate website (“over 400,000 team members”).
To put it plainly, that’s a 6.02% increase from the 415,000 employees reported in 2024. After a couple of years of workforce trimming (more on that in a minute), the company is expanding again.
This employee count includes workers in:
- 1,981 U.S. stores (as of May 2025)
- 60+ supply chain and distribution facilities
- 29 global offices
- Subsidiaries like Shipt and Roundel
- Corporate, digital, and customer experience teams
Target’s Employee Count Over Time
Target’s workforce hasn’t grown in a straight line; it’s moved in response to shifts in consumer behavior, logistics demands, and even global events like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here’s a quick snapshot of how their numbers have changed over the last 15 years, as per Macrotrends:
A few key moments stand out:
- 2020 saw a major hiring push, over 13% growth, fueled by a spike in demand during the pandemic.
- 2022 marked the peak at 450,000 employees.
- 2023–2024 showed some pullback, possibly linked to streamlining, automation, or inflationary pressures.
- 2025 signals a rebound to pre-2023 levels, which could mean Target’s stabilizing after a couple of volatile years.
Who Makes Up the Target Team?
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Let’s talk about the people behind the numbers.
Target’s workforce is a mix of:
- Full-time employees handling management, logistics, tech, and store leadership
- Part-time staff working retail floors, cashier stations, stocking shifts, and customer support
- Seasonal workers brought in during peak shopping periods (think back-to-school and holiday rushes)
Roles span a wide range, including:
- Guest advocates (customer service)
- Fulfillment experts (packing and shipping online orders)
- Team leads and executive team leaders (store management)
- Supply chain specialists (distribution centers)
- Software engineers, marketers, and business analysts (corporate)
And that doesn’t even touch the teams at Shipt (grocery delivery) and Roundel (Target’s in-house media company), which add further variety and technical skill to the company’s employment portfolio.
Diversity, Inclusion, and Representation
Target has made some clear moves in recent years to build a workforce that better reflects the communities it serves.
According to Diversity.com:
- 33% of Target store leaders are people of color.
- Over 50% of management roles across the company are held by women.
- 42% of corporate leadership roles are held by women.
- 24% of corporate leaders are people of color.
These numbers tie into a larger company-wide push for equity in hiring, promotion, and vendor partnerships, including a $2 billion pledge to support Black-owned businesses by 2025.
No Big Shakeups in 2025
So, what’s happening right now? Any signs of layoffs? Hiring booms?
Not really. As of mid-2025:
- The 440,000 figure remains steady, with no major hiring campaigns or large-scale layoffs reported.
- There have been minor reports of job reductions, like in Locust Grove, Georgia, affecting a warehouse team in January, but no widespread downsizing.
- LinkedIn data shows a small 1.1% dip in employee count, but that’s likely due to data gaps, not actual cuts.
In short: Target’s workforce seems stable. After a few up-and-down years, that’s saying something.
The Bigger Picture & Economic Impact
Target’s employee base is both big and influential.
At 440,000 strong, it’s:
- One of the largest employers in U.S. retail
- A major source of jobs in suburban and urban communities across all 50 states
- A workplace that supports a 74% employee satisfaction rating, compared to a 57% national average (per Great Place to Work)
That said, the retail environment isn’t easy. Rising labor costs, evolving tech, and shifting consumer expectations all make it harder to balance happy employees and healthy margins.
But Target’s scale gives it leverage. With $106.5 billion in revenue in 2024 (according to their website), the company can invest in people, technology, and logistics in ways smaller competitors simply can’t.
Where Target Employees Work
Let’s break it down a bit further.
| Division / Facility | Description | Contribution to Workforce |
| Retail Stores | Nearly 2,000 across the U.S. | Cashiers, stockers, team leads |
| Supply Chain | 60+ distribution centers | Inventory, shipping, logistics |
| Corporate Offices | 29 locations globally | Finance, tech, strategy, HR |
| Subsidiaries | Shipt, Roundel, etc. | E-commerce and digital services |
It’s not just red shirts and registers anymore. A growing chunk of the workforce is now focused on digital growth, data science, automation, and logistics, showing just how much the retail world has changed in the past decade.
Challenges and Concerns
Hiring hundreds of thousands of people is one thing. Keeping them happy is another.
While Target generally ranks well in employee satisfaction, online chatter (Reddit threads, TheLayoff.com, and similar sites) hints at concerns like:
- Job security in a tech-driven landscape
- Store-level communication gaps
- Questions around long-term career growth
None of these are unique to Target, but they’re reminders that scale doesn’t guarantee satisfaction. Still, the company has been recognized for its culture and continues to invest in development programs, diversity efforts, and workplace improvements.
What’s Next?
Where Target goes from here depends on a lot of factors: inflation, consumer confidence, digital sales trends, and yes, AI.
Here’s what’s likely:
- Further automation in supply chain roles could change staffing needs.
- Digital expansion may shift more hires to tech and logistics.
- Sustainability and community investment goals could shape hiring practices (e.g., green energy roles, DEI roles, and community outreach).
But the core business, serving guests in-store and online, is still deeply people-powered. And 440,000 is no small number.
Methodology
We sourced employee data directly from Target’s official financial disclosures and Macrotrends, ensuring accuracy for 2025 figures and historical trends.
- We cross-referenced third-party platforms like LinkedIn and Great Place to Work to assess workforce satisfaction, hiring patterns, and organizational stability.
- We included diversity and role-specific insights using publicly available reports from Target, Diversity.com, and industry publications.
- We analyzed broader economic and retail trends to contextualize Target’s employment shifts, especially post-COVID and in light of automation and inflation pressures.
Final Thoughts
Target’s 2025 workforce of 440,000 employees is a reflection of the company’s scale, values, and resilience. After navigating a wild few years, the company has stabilized, added jobs, and stayed competitive in a brutal retail market.
Whether you’re grabbing laundry detergent, stocking shelves, or developing supply chain algorithms, there’s a good chance Target’s workforce touches your life in some way.
And with nearly half a million people on the job, it’s safe to say that this retail giant is still running on human power.
References
- macrotrends.net – Target: Number of Employees 2010-2025 | TGT
- diversity.com – Months After Target’s DEI Rollback: What’s Happened So Far
- greatplacetowork.com – Target Corporation Company Overview
- corporate.target.com – 2024 Annual Report Target Corporation
