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Tag: Michael Fiddelke

  • Layoffs are piling up, raising worker anxiety. Here are some companies that have cut jobs recently

    NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a tough time for the job market.

    Amid wider economic uncertainty, some analysts have said that businesses are at a “no-hire, no fire” standstill. That’s caused many to limit new work to only a few specific roles, if not pause openings entirely. At the same time, some sizeable layoffs have continued to pile up — raising worker anxieties across sectors.

    Some companies have pointed to rising operational costs spanning from President Donald Trump’s barrage of new tariffs and shifts in consumer spending. Others cite corporate restructuring more broadly — or, as seen with big names like Amazon, are redirecting money to artificial intelligence.

    Federal employees have encountered additional doses of uncertainty, impacting worker sentiment around the job market overall. Shortly after Trump returned to office at the start of the year, federal jobs were cut by the thousands. And many workers are now going without pay as the U.S. government shutdown nears its fourth week.

    “A lot of people are looking around, scanning the job environment, scanning the opportunities that are available to them — whether it’s in the public or private sector,” said Jason Schloetzer, professor business administration at Georgetown University’s McDonough School. “And I think there’s a question mark around the long-term stability everywhere.”

    Government hiring data is on hold during the shutdown, but earlier this month a survey by payroll company ADP showed that the private sector lost 32,000 jobs in September.

    Here are some companies that have moved to cut jobs recently.

    General Motors

    General Motors moved to lay off about 1,700 workers across manufacturing sites in Michigan and Ohio on Wednesday, as the auto giant adjusts to slowing demand for electric vehicles.

    Hundreds of additional employees are reportedly slated for “temporary layoffs.” And GM has recently moved to downsize other parts of its workforce, too — including 200 layoffs mostly impacting engineers in Detroit, and other 300 job cuts at a Georgia IT Innovation Center, which it is also shuttering.

    Paramount

    In long-awaited cuts just months after completing its $8 billion merger with Skydance, Paramount is going to lay off about 2,000 employees — about 10% of its workforce.

    Paramount initiated roughly 1,000 of those layoffs on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The rest of the cuts will be made at a later date.

    Amazon

    Amazon will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs as the online retail giant ramps up spending on artificial intelligence.

    Amazon said Tuesday that it will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs, close to 4% of its workforce, as the online retail giant ramps up spending on AI while trimming costs elsewhere. A letter to employees said most workers would be given 90 days to look for a new position internally.

    CEO Andy Jassy previously said he anticipated generative AI would reduce Amazon’s corporate workforce in the coming years. And he has worked to aggressively cut costs overall since 2021.

    UPS

    United Parcel Service has disclosed about 48,000 job cuts this year as part of turnaround efforts, which arrive amid wider shifts in the company’s shipping outputs.

    In a Tuesday regulatory filing, UPS said it’s cut about 34,000 operational positions — and the company announced another 14,000 role reductions, mostly within management. Combined, that’s much higher than the roughly 20,000 cuts UPS forecast earlier this year.

    Target

    Last week, Target that it would eliminate about 1,800 corporate positions, or about 8% of its corporate workforce globally.

    Target said the cuts were part of wider streamlining efforts — with Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke noting that “too many layers and overlapping work have slowed decisions.” The retailer is also looking to rebuild its customer base. Target reported flat or declining comparable sales in nine of the past eleven quarters.

    Nestlé

    In mid-October, Nestlé said it would be cutting 16,000 jobs globally — as part of wider cost cutting aimed at reviving its financial performance.

    The Swiss food giant said the layoffs would take place over the next two years. The cuts arrive as Nestlé and others face headwinds like rising commodity costs and U.S. imposed tariffs. The company announced price hikes over the summer to offset higher coffee and cocoa costs.

    Lufthansa Group

    In September, Lufthansa Group said it would shed 4,000 jobs by 2030 — pointing to the adoption of artificial intelligence, digitalization and consolidating work among member airlines.

    Most of the lost jobs would be in Germany, and the focus would be on administrative rather than operational roles, the company said. The layoff plans arrived even as the company reported strong demand for air travel and predicted stronger profits in years ahead.

    Novo Nordisk

    Also in September, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said it would cut 9,000 jobs, about 11% of its workforce.

    Novo Nordisk — which makes drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy — said the layoffs were part of wider restructuring as the company works to sell more obesity and diabetes medications amid rising competition.

    ConocoPhillips

    Oil giant ConocoPhillips has said it plans to lay off up to a quarter of its workforce, as part of broader efforts from the company to cut costs.

    A spokesperson for ConocoPhillips confirmed the layoffs on Sept. 3, noting that 20% to 25% of the company’s employees and contractors would be impacted worldwide. At the time, ConocoPhillips had a total headcount of about 13,000 — or between 2,600 and 3,250 workers. Most reductions were expected to take place before the end of 2025.

    Intel

    Intel has moved to shed thousands of jobs — with the struggling chipmaker working to revive its business as it lags behind rivals like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.

    In a July memo to employees, CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Intel expected to end the year with 75,000 “core” workers, excluding subsidiaries, through layoffs and attrition. That’s down from 99,500 core employees reported the end of last year. The company previously announced a 15% workforce reduction.

    Microsoft

    In May, Microsoft began began laying off about 6,000 workers across its workforce. And just months later, the tech giant said it would be cutting 9,000 positions — marking its biggest round of layoffs seen in more than two years.

    The latest job cuts hit Microsoft’s Xbox video game business and other divisions. The company has cited “organizational changes,” with many executives characterizing the layoffs as part of a push to trim management layers. But the labor reductions also arrive as the company spends heavily on AI.

    Procter & Gamble

    In June, Procter & Gamble said it would cut up to 7,000 jobs over the next two years, 6% of the company’s global workforce.

    The maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers said the cuts were part of a wider restructuring — also arriving amid tariff pressures. In July, P&G said it would hike prices on about a quarter of its products due to the newly-imposed import taxes, although it’s since said it expects to take less of a hit than previously anticipated for the 2026 fiscal year.

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  • How Walmart, Target, Home Depot and Lowe’s Confront Tariff Pressures

    Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said tariff-driven price increases will likely persist through the rest of 2025. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

    The financial impact of the Trump administration’s shifting tariff policy is reaching the shelves of America’s biggest retailers. Walmart, the largest of them all, warned this week that levy-driven price hikes will only become more common. “As we replenish inventory at post-tariff price levels, we’ve continued to see our costs increase each week,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on the retailer’s second-quarter earnings call. He added that the trend will likely persist through the rest of 2025.

    Walmart first flagged price increases back in May, cautioning it could not fully absorb the financial hit of tariffs—a warning drew President Donald Trump’s ire. Trump publicly demanded that Walmart “EAT THE TARIFFS.” Around one-third of Walmart’s merchandise is produced abroad, with heavy reliance on imports from China, Mexico, Vietnam and India.

    Despite the pressures, Walmart topped revenue estimates with $177.4 billion sales for the May-July quarter, up 4.8 percent year-over-year. Net income, however, came in at $7 billion, missing Wall Street’s profit expectations. McMillon said customer behavior hasn’t shifted dramatically overall, but noted that middle- and lower-income shoppers are more likely to switch products or categories in response to rising prices compared with higher-income households.

    Target, one of Walmart’s biggest rivals, has so far been more hesitant to raise prices. “What we’ve said, and it continues to be our position, is that we’ll take price as a last resort,” Target CFO Rick Gomez said during its Aug. 20 earnings call.

    Still, Target acknowledged the pressure tariffs are creating. The company, which announced this week that CEO Brian Cornell will step down next year, projected a low single-digit sales decline in 2025. “Obviously, the straight cost impact of tariffs will be with us as long as the tariffs are with us,” Fiddelke told analysts. Target nevertheless beat estimates on both revenue and net income for the quarter.

    Home Depot, meanwhile, has reversed course on its earlier pledge to avoid price hikes. In May, the company said it would instead get rid of some product options. But during its Aug. 19 earnings call, Home Depot’s executive vice president of merchandising, Billy Bastick, said that plan has changed. “There’ll be some modest price movement in some categories, but it won’t be broad-based,” he said, adding that Home Depot is also scaling back promotional activity in certain areas to offset tariff costs.

    The broader economic environment is weighing on the company’s performance. Home Depot reported $45 billion in sales and $4.5 billion in net income for the quarter, falling short of Wall Street’s expectations for the first time since 2014.

    Home Depot’s rival, Lowe’s, in contrast, impressed Wall Street this week. The home improvement chain reported $2.4 billion in net income on nearly $24 billion in revenue, which matched analyst expectations. CEO Marvin Ellison emphasized the company’s strategy of sourcing more goods domestically. About 60 percent of Lowe’s merchandise now comes from the U.S., while imports from China have dropped to 20 percent—down significantly from seven years ago.

    Pricing remains a “dynamic” environment for the time being, said Ellison, who added that Lowe’s will fluctuate its prices depending on additional factors like competitive responses and internal algorithms. “We’re managing this literally in real time because this is uncharted waters,” he said.

    How Walmart, Target, Home Depot and Lowe’s Confront Tariff Pressures

    Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

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  • Target’s New CEO Reveals a Three-Part Turnaround Plan | Entrepreneur

    Target just promoted an insider to CEO, tasking him with turning the company around amid decreasing sales and foot traffic.

    Target announced on Wednesday that its Chief Operating Officer (COO), Michael Fiddelke, will assume the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in February 2026. The company’s current CEO, Brian Cornell, who has been in the role for 11 years, will retire that month.

    Related: It Started With a Simple Question: ‘What Is Your Life’s Purpose?’ Now, Their Company Is In 500 Target Stores

    “There is no one better suited to move Target forward than Michael Fiddelke,” Cornell stated in a news release. “He brings a remarkable level of resolve in the face of complex challenges, a deep passion for growth, and a natural ability to inspire those around him to define what’s next.”

    According to Business Insider, Target has reported drops in comparable sales, or sales from stores and digital channels, for six of the past nine quarters. On Wednesday, Target stated that comparable sales declined by 1.9% in its most recent quarter ending July 31.

    Target’s new CEO, Michael Fiddelke. Photo by Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images

    Foot traffic to Target stores has also dropped, decreasing 3.9% year-over-year in June. And Target’s stock is down over 28% year-to-date, with the company’s market value hovering around $44.6 billion at the time of writing.

    Related: Target Is Lowering Prices on Thousands of Items — Here’s Where You Can Expect to Save

    Fiddelke joined Target in 2003 as an intern and has been with the company ever since, according to his bio on Target’s corporate website. As COO, he led investments to build and grow stores and the company’s digital footprint.

    Fiddelke’s turnaround plan for Target

    During Target’s quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, Fiddelke acknowledged that the company was “not realizing our full potential right now” and stated that he was assuming the CEO role “with a clear and urgent commitment” to “get back to profitable growth” and “build new momentum.”

    On the call, Fiddelke outlined a three-part plan for Target to reclaim profitable growth.

    First, he said that Target had to “reestablish” its merchandising presence through unique products in categories like apparel, home, and food and beverage. Fiddelke emphasized that the company had a $31 billion private label portfolio, stating that the portfolio of brands could be a way to bring newness to store shelves.

    “We need to reclaim that merchandising authority,” Fiddelke said on the earnings call.

    Related: Target Teams Up With Shopify To Give Online Small Businesses Brick-and-Mortar Shelf Space

    Second, Fiddelke wants customers to “find a sense of joy” every time they step into Target. He tasked the company with delivering “an elevated experience” with well-stocked shelves and clean stores.

    “We have to do better here, especially in the consistency of our experience,” Fiddelke stated on the call.

    Finally, Fiddelke said Target should tap into technology and AI to allow the team to move faster and accurately forecast sales, which will make its business and guest experience more efficient.

    “Our performance over the last few years has not been acceptable,” Fiddelke said on the call, adding, “We have real work in front of us.”

    Join top CEOs, founders and operators at the Level Up conference to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting revenue and building sustainable success.

    Sherin Shibu

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  • Target’s CEO is stepping down as customers turn away

    Target CEO Brian Cornell, who helped reenergize the company but has struggled to turn around weak sales in a more competitive retail landscape since the COVID pandemic, plans to step down Feb. 1.Minneapolis-based Target said Wednesday that Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke, a 20-year company veteran, will succeed Cornell.Cornell said Fiddelke’s appointment followed several years of board vetting of both internal and external candidates. Fiddelke has overhauled Target’s supply network and expanded the company’s stores and digital services while cutting costs. In May, the company announced that he would lead a new office focused on faster decision-making to help accelerate sales growth.Fiddelke is taking over at a time when Target’s sales are in a funk, its stores are messy and understocked, and it’s losing market share to rivals like Walmart.He said he’s stepping into the role with urgency with three priorities: reclaiming the company’s merchandising authority; improving the shopping experience by making sure shelves are consistently stocked and stores are clean; and investing in technology at the company’s stores and in its supply network.“When we’re leading with swagger in our merchandising authority, when we have swagger in our marketing, and we’re setting the trend for retail, those are some of the moments I think that Target has been at its highest in my 20 years,” he said.The change in leadership was announced Wednesday at the same time that Target reported another quarter of sluggish results. The company’s stock was down more than 8% in pre-market trading.Neil Saunders, a managing director at GlobalData Retail, said Wednesday that he had “mixed feelings” about the appointment.“While we think Fiddelke is talented and has a somewhat different take on things compared to current CEO Brian Cornell, this is an internal appointment that does not necessarily remedy the problems of entrenched groupthink and the inward-looking mindset that have plagued Target for years,” he said.Target reported a 21% drop in net income in the quarter ended Aug. 2. Sales were down slightly and the company reported a 1.9% dip in comparable sales — those from established physical stores and online channels. Target has seen flat or declining comparable sales in eight out of the past 10 quarters including the latest period.Target, which has about 1,980 U.S. stores, has been the focus of consumer boycotts since late January, when it joined rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.Target’s sales also have languished as customers defect to Walmart and off-price department store chains like TJ Maxx in search of lower prices. But many analysts think Target is stumbling because consumers no longer consider it the place to go for affordable but stylish products, a niche that long ago earned the retailer the jokingly posh nickname “Tarzhay.”In fact, out of 35 merchandise categories that Target tracks, it gained or maintained market share in only 14 during the latest quarter, Fiddelke told reporters Tuesday.Meanwhile, Walmart gained market share among households with incomes over $100,000 as U.S. inflation caused consumer prices to rise rapidly. Lower-income shoppers have driven customer growth at Target, suggesting it may have lost appeal with wealthier customers, according to market research firm Consumer Edge.“It’s probably not the best sign, especially because higher-income consumers continue to hold up a little bit better” during times of economic uncertainty, said Consumer Edge Head of Insights Michael Gunther.In March, members of Target’s executive team told investors they planned to regain the chain’s reputation for selling stylish goods at budget prices by expanding Target’s lineup of store label brands and shortening the time it took to get new items from the idea stage to store shelves. The moves would help the company stay close to trends, executives said.“In a world where we operate today, our guests are looking for Tarzhay,” Cornell told investors. “Consumers coined that term decades ago to define how we elevate the everything everyday to something special, how we had unexpected fun in the shopping that would be otherwise routine.”Before joining Target in 2014, Cornell, 66, spent more than 30 years in leadership positions at retail and consumer-product companies, including as chief marketing officer at Safeway Inc. and CEO at Michaels, Walmart’s Sam’s Club and PepsiCo America Foods. In September 2022, the board extended his contract for three more years and eliminated a policy requiring its chief executives to retire at age 65.When Cornell got to Target, the company was facing a different set of challenges.Cornell replaced former CEO Gregg Steinhafel, who stepped down nearly five months after Target disclosed a huge data breach in which hackers stole millions of customers’ credit- and debit-card records. The theft badly damaged the chain’s reputation and profits.Cornell reenergized sales by having his team rev up Target’s store brands. It now has 40 private label brands in its portfolio. And even before the pandemic, Cornell spearheaded the company’s mission to transform its stores into delivery hubs to cut down on costs and speed up deliveries.Target’s 2017 acquisition of Shipt helped bolster the discounter’s same-day, store-based fulfillment services. Cornell also focused on making its stores better tailored to the local community.The coronavirus pandemic delivered outsized sales for Target as well as its peers as people stayed home and bought pajamas, furnishings and kitchen items. And it continued to see a surge in sales as shoppers emerged from their homes and went to stores. But the spending sprees eventually subsided.As inflation started to spike, Target reported a 52% drop in profits during its 2022 first quarter compared with a year earlier. Purchases of big TVs and appliances that Americans loaded up on during the pandemic faded, leaving the retailer with excess inventory that had to be sold off.In July 2023, as shoppers feeling pinched by inflation curtailed their spending, Target said its comparable sales declined for the first time in six years.Moreover, Target started losing its edge as an authority on style by focusing too much on home furnishings basics, and not enough trendy items, Fiddelke said.A customer backlash over the annual line of LGBTQ+ Pride merchandise Target stores carried that year further cut into sales.Although Walmart retreated from its diversity initiatives first, Target has been the focus of more concerted consumer boycotts. Organizers have said they viewed Target’s action as a greater betrayal because the company previously had held itself out as a champion of inclusion.

    NEW YORK —

    Target CEO Brian Cornell, who helped reenergize the company but has struggled to turn around weak sales in a more competitive retail landscape since the COVID pandemic, plans to step down Feb. 1.

    Minneapolis-based Target said Wednesday that Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke, a 20-year company veteran, will succeed Cornell.

    Cornell said Fiddelke’s appointment followed several years of board vetting of both internal and external candidates. Fiddelke has overhauled Target’s supply network and expanded the company’s stores and digital services while cutting costs. In May, the company announced that he would lead a new office focused on faster decision-making to help accelerate sales growth.

    Fiddelke is taking over at a time when Target’s sales are in a funk, its stores are messy and understocked, and it’s losing market share to rivals like Walmart.

    He said he’s stepping into the role with urgency with three priorities: reclaiming the company’s merchandising authority; improving the shopping experience by making sure shelves are consistently stocked and stores are clean; and investing in technology at the company’s stores and in its supply network.

    “When we’re leading with swagger in our merchandising authority, when we have swagger in our marketing, and we’re setting the trend for retail, those are some of the moments I think that Target has been at its highest in my 20 years,” he said.

    The change in leadership was announced Wednesday at the same time that Target reported another quarter of sluggish results. The company’s stock was down more than 8% in pre-market trading.

    Neil Saunders, a managing director at GlobalData Retail, said Wednesday that he had “mixed feelings” about the appointment.

    “While we think Fiddelke is talented and has a somewhat different take on things compared to current CEO Brian Cornell, this is an internal appointment that does not necessarily remedy the problems of entrenched groupthink and the inward-looking mindset that have plagued Target for years,” he said.

    Target reported a 21% drop in net income in the quarter ended Aug. 2. Sales were down slightly and the company reported a 1.9% dip in comparable sales — those from established physical stores and online channels. Target has seen flat or declining comparable sales in eight out of the past 10 quarters including the latest period.

    Target, which has about 1,980 U.S. stores, has been the focus of consumer boycotts since late January, when it joined rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

    Target’s sales also have languished as customers defect to Walmart and off-price department store chains like TJ Maxx in search of lower prices. But many analysts think Target is stumbling because consumers no longer consider it the place to go for affordable but stylish products, a niche that long ago earned the retailer the jokingly posh nickname “Tarzhay.”

    In fact, out of 35 merchandise categories that Target tracks, it gained or maintained market share in only 14 during the latest quarter, Fiddelke told reporters Tuesday.

    Meanwhile, Walmart gained market share among households with incomes over $100,000 as U.S. inflation caused consumer prices to rise rapidly. Lower-income shoppers have driven customer growth at Target, suggesting it may have lost appeal with wealthier customers, according to market research firm Consumer Edge.

    “It’s probably not the best sign, especially because higher-income consumers continue to hold up a little bit better” during times of economic uncertainty, said Consumer Edge Head of Insights Michael Gunther.

    In March, members of Target’s executive team told investors they planned to regain the chain’s reputation for selling stylish goods at budget prices by expanding Target’s lineup of store label brands and shortening the time it took to get new items from the idea stage to store shelves. The moves would help the company stay close to trends, executives said.

    “In a world where we operate today, our guests are looking for Tarzhay,” Cornell told investors. “Consumers coined that term decades ago to define how we elevate the everything everyday to something special, how we had unexpected fun in the shopping that would be otherwise routine.”

    Before joining Target in 2014, Cornell, 66, spent more than 30 years in leadership positions at retail and consumer-product companies, including as chief marketing officer at Safeway Inc. and CEO at Michaels, Walmart’s Sam’s Club and PepsiCo America Foods. In September 2022, the board extended his contract for three more years and eliminated a policy requiring its chief executives to retire at age 65.

    When Cornell got to Target, the company was facing a different set of challenges.

    Cornell replaced former CEO Gregg Steinhafel, who stepped down nearly five months after Target disclosed a huge data breach in which hackers stole millions of customers’ credit- and debit-card records. The theft badly damaged the chain’s reputation and profits.

    Cornell reenergized sales by having his team rev up Target’s store brands. It now has 40 private label brands in its portfolio. And even before the pandemic, Cornell spearheaded the company’s mission to transform its stores into delivery hubs to cut down on costs and speed up deliveries.

    Target’s 2017 acquisition of Shipt helped bolster the discounter’s same-day, store-based fulfillment services. Cornell also focused on making its stores better tailored to the local community.

    The coronavirus pandemic delivered outsized sales for Target as well as its peers as people stayed home and bought pajamas, furnishings and kitchen items. And it continued to see a surge in sales as shoppers emerged from their homes and went to stores. But the spending sprees eventually subsided.

    As inflation started to spike, Target reported a 52% drop in profits during its 2022 first quarter compared with a year earlier. Purchases of big TVs and appliances that Americans loaded up on during the pandemic faded, leaving the retailer with excess inventory that had to be sold off.

    In July 2023, as shoppers feeling pinched by inflation curtailed their spending, Target said its comparable sales declined for the first time in six years.

    Moreover, Target started losing its edge as an authority on style by focusing too much on home furnishings basics, and not enough trendy items, Fiddelke said.

    A customer backlash over the annual line of LGBTQ+ Pride merchandise Target stores carried that year further cut into sales.

    Although Walmart retreated from its diversity initiatives first, Target has been the focus of more concerted consumer boycotts. Organizers have said they viewed Target’s action as a greater betrayal because the company previously had held itself out as a champion of inclusion.

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