MG,
I don't know if you are an employee of Target or not, but I am. I can see your point in saying what you are saying, drastic changes are happening in all the stores, yes. Am I happy about it either? Hell no! Target is looking out for the business side of things, not their people...absolutely. Who can live on 5 hours of pay per week? No one. And yes, cut hours may lead to being not qualified for benefits such as health insurance. Good for them, bad for us.
They are spreading their people pretty thin, many of us are having days when we are the sole person to over see multiple departments. In that respect, yes, employees do have to be trained in other areas...and the team trainers are asked to show their co-workers the ropes, basically. In a time when hours are being cut, this opens up more opportunities for employees to gain additional hours by knowing other departments. No, I'm sure it does'nt feel very good, right, or fair to train someone who may be taking some hours from yourself. But Target sees those willing to train and be trained as a strong part of the store's team. I'm a supervisor at a Target...and I myself, am exhausted. I don't enjoy not having employees to help out on the sales floor, and I don't like the fact that I can't help them out either. Supervisor hours are getting cut way down as well and everyone is cranky, moody, stressed out... We get our allowed hours based on our store's sales. In this economy, let's face it, people are'nt buying much aside from the essentials, which is 100% understandable. I'm not either. But, to boycott Target would only make things worse for the people who are already getting their hours cut. The less people who come to the store, the less shifts there are to give. So where I can absolutely relate to your frustration firsthand, those who do boycott are only putting less food on the tables of others. Kind of a catch 22, I know. :o(
The unemployment rate is at an all time high and most of us are just trying to hold on to the jobs we have..however many hours we get. Given a better economy, oh I know for a fact Target would have employees walking out on them left and right in numbers because they are very frustrated. I feel bad for Target when things do get better in the job market, they're going to have alot of people leaving now that they've had a taste of how they are treated there when the chips are down. But for now, that's the place that's feeding alot of the children whose parents work there.

Part-time is a reality of retail. That is probably 80% of all non-management positions in a retail environment. I worked for Target for many years and I absolutely hate the place, but, I understand why they are doing what they are doing. They have to save money just like everyone else. It would be nice if Target would allow employees to sign a waiver that would let them work full-time hours but receive no benefits. I also worked for one of Targets competitors that does this and it's a win-win for both sides. A lot of people already have benefits through their spouses job and for many it is a question of survival. They will do without benefits if they can still put food on the table and the only way to put food on the table is by working full-time hours.

as for the jobs and cut hours.. The wages the employees are paid are based on the sales on the floor. low sales... shorter hours.. I volunteered back from 5 nights to 3 nights.. start of 2009.. I retired Oct 2009. 380,000 employees had last year.. i am farily sure the count isn't much less than that. Minneapolis MN home office for Target is the budget maker. it is their say.. Not the local store manager. Corporations have people who determines what goes.
as for Jeff who couldn't find a winter shirt.. well,, they went bye bye end of January first part of Feb.. because spring clothes are coming in.. read your ads.
writer Me?? do you work or have worked for target?? it isn't a playground.. we worked hard there.. you probably only there for a paycheck..
Hey Norma? how did you daughter break her ankle? screwing off on the job?? i think there is more to it than that.. They fire because of a good reason.. Maybe she didn't pass the drug test when she came back.. ever think about that???

Seems like i remember jobs were starting to go overseas during the Reagan adminstration.. Old Borax pusher of the 50/60's on TV was for free enterprise.. Oil prices was the first bill he signed. anything for corporate america .. he okayed.. the common folk he didn't want to be bothered with.
anyway people. enjoy your lives.. don't dwell on nonsense.. find some happiness somewhere.. the economy starts with you.. as an american.. pay your bills, cut your budgets and hang in there. This problem was before Obama was even elected president.. and has been a problem for years., just wasn't brought to the forefront until Obama was elected President. At least he is trying to do something about it.

The reason that the prices are going up and up is because of all of the spending that is going on in Congress. The US does NOT have the money that they keep spending on things like bailouts, illegal aliens, welfare deadbeats and passing more jobs bills (aka another stimulus bill) This spending forces the US to borrow even MORE money from China (where most of OUR jobs have gone...thank you unions) and the fed continues printing money which makes the value of our money go down against the Chinese yuan. Since most of the CRAP we buy is made in China, it's more expensive to buy and that additional cost is passed on to us...

Oh, and since I brought up China...be sure to read food labels. I've noticed that a lot of food says "distributed by" and lists a company. That is a red flag that it might come from China, and so write down the phone number if there is one and put it back on the shelf until I verify where it comes from. No phone number, no purchase. Gorton foods is a company that says on some packages that the fish is caught off the coast of Alaska on the front, but says "distributed by" on the back. I called the company and I was informed that it's caught in US waters and PROCESSED in China...just thought I'd let you know why a lot of food prices are going up. I just hope that the Chinese are processing our food better than baby formula and dog food.