I genuinely believe Target generated the wrath of too many people, and this caused its downfall, unfortunately innocent people who have not been involved in these terrible decisions end up suffering. As an ex employee, my treatment was absolutely horrendous and nobody on my team spoke up. I came to Target, thinking I was working for a really positive, forward looking company when in reality it’s an organization filled with yes people who are scared to speak up because the status quo will not allow it. As soon as you speak up you become a targeted individual that has no career path. I genuinely hope a new group of leadership can take over and make things right as the current leadership cannot do this. Rinse and repeat will not save Target. Investors have already signaled this, but of course why not continuing ignoring them.
11 replies (most recent on top)
@at Thanks for sharing your experience here because where else can you be honest about toxicity where it exists? You most certainly don't want to share that on Linkedin.
I get the impression you were pushed out - because it truly messes with your self-esteem and you start questioning your worth. Once you wake up and realize you were being gaslit, you realize it wasn't really you but them... especially when you had stellar reviews not long before. I was once super excited to be working at what I thought was a progressive company with great values, but I soon realized it was all a facade. Hope you are happier since you left!
As another ex-target employee, I wholeheartedly agree with @OP. I was at Target for over a decade, continuously exceeding expectations, until I tried to speak the truth one too many times. And then suddenly, just months after getting another exceeds rating, I was no longer cutting it in my role. I sought out alternative positions in other internal areas for roles I was interested in, as I had done successfully several times in my past at Target, but was now blackballed on all of them. It was then that I decided I deserved to work someplace better.
Even though there were (are) so many amazing people there, for some reason, the leadership overall and the culture are poisoned. One executive leader that came into the organization about 15 years ago nailed it when he said Target was suffering from a major social conformity paradox. Unfortunately the leaders driving that, haven't seemed to change over enough to make it go away.
To me, the negative company performance isn't just a result of karma, but also a result of the sickness within. It's too bad really, because they were a great company at one point.
@a2 Exactly. It is career-su----e to complain about your former company on Linkedin. So either Reddit or here is the best place.
@ad Something tells me TGT Execs asked Layoff.com to remove it. I noticed it was gone too.
There was an entire thread about this.
Accounts of terrible treatment of internal teams that was formally reported and never actioned on, mid-level leaders (VP and SVP) motivating through fear, and promoting based on favoritism over qualifications, and a general disregard for internal talent over external hires that then couldn’t do the job while the real creative drivers got sidelined, fed up, or pushed out.
The thread was pulled down and now all you get is a 404 not found error.
Ex employee here, I hope I can give you all some hope. I agree, when it comes down to it, it's all about money - - and that's true for any for profit organization. I worked at Target for nearly 20 years before they started gunning for me. I occassionally check linked in to see who is still employed there and am amazed that some of wettest noodles survive year after year. It's not a great place to work, it may have been long ago, but not now. I left and found a union job - yes, a professional union job making more than I ever did at Target with affordable healthcare and employees willing to work. You will survive and thrive elsewhere.
@a1 this is the wrong site to come looking for info on layoffs. This site is for venting. Also LinkedIn su-ks! Why don’t you go post there.
@a1 ... and it would be so nice if everybody knew who posted what, in a Big Brother sort of way
Hate to say it but much of the reason things like this happen(and they do happen here,a lot) is because nobody ever names names.
@a1 Uhhhh speak for yourself… we want these types of posts too. LinkedIn is only for professional branding not for saying ‘unprofessional’ things about your previous employer
take this to linkedin lmao. why are you virtue posting on a site people are looking to for answers on the layoffs?