Target Keeps Store Minimum Wage Steady, Boosts Hours to Raise Pay

Target confirmed to the U.S. Sun that it “isn’t planning any changes to its store pay structure” even as the company announced about 500 office and supply-chain job cuts in early February 2026 and says it will redirect that money toward frontline store staffing. The move aims to boost take-home pay by increasing hours for store employees rather than raising the chain’s minimum hourly rate.

The decision follows a string of larger corporate moves. In October 2025 Target cut about 1,800 corporate roles to streamline “too many layers and overlapping work,” a change that company materials described as the retailer’s first major layoff in nearly a decade. Management now frames the newest reductions as a reinvestment in stores to address persistent sales weakness.

Target’s recent compensation history provides context for why executives are keeping hourly structure steady. In late 2017 the company raised its minimum wage to $11 and set a goal to gradually increase it to $15 by the end of 2020. In 2022 Target established a target wage band of $15 to $24 for hourly store and warehouse workers, with pay dependent on job and local market factors. As of late 2025 the average wage for a frontline employee was over $18.50 per hour.

Leadership changes add pressure to show operational improvements. Michael Fiddelke, formerly COO, took over as CEO at the start of the year with a goal of “elevating the guest experience” as Target’s sales have been flat or declining for 11 straight quarters. Company messaging links the staff reinvestment directly to that objective, pitching added labor as a way to make stores function better for shoppers.

Target says the extra hours and training will be used to fix specific in-store problems: out-of-stocks, long checkout lines, messy displays, and shrink. Retail materials also note the practical benefit for employees, saying the additional bodies in stores may reduce stress for in-store workers. The company instituted a “10-4” rule in December requiring associates to acknowledge an in-store shopper within 10 feet and engage within 4 feet, a policy characterized internally and externally as controversial.

Employee morale remains a complicating factor. Reports tie morale impacts to the chain’s 2024 pullback on DEI commitments and subsequent boycotts. Separately, public attention has focused on an incident in a Minnesota store where immigration officials detained two Target employees during their shift, an episode critics said was met by perceived company inaction.

Keeping the minimum-wage structure steady while shifting dollars into more hours is a clear operational bet: Target is banking that reallocating labor can improve the guest experience enough to reverse 11 quarters of flat or declining sales. For Michael Fiddelke and the leadership team, the coming quarters will test whether extra hours and store-level focus deliver measurable changes in sales and shopper satisfaction.