Target calls entire commercial unit back to Minneapolis HQ three days a week

After weeks of individual teams being called back to the office at Target Corp., the company is officially requiring all headquarters workers from its largest business unit show up three days a week.

The commercial unit, overseen by Target’s Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez, includes buyers, planners and supply chain managers. Those affected were notified through a departmentwide email on Thursday, with the policy starting Sept. 2.

“More time together, in the office, will help us grow our business faster, solve problems quickly, and build stronger relationships,” Gomez wrote in the email.

The move comes a little over a month after several teams within the commercial unit had been notified by managers that they would be expected to work at the office soon — but on varying timetables. Thursday’s move establishes a uniform policy for the whole unit.

Employees will be allowed to set their own schedules and choose which three days work best for them and their immediate work teams, he wrote. Target declined to share how many employees will be returning to the office, but it’s likely in the thousands.

There are a total of 7,100 workers assigned to headquarters, though their geographic location, given the company’s flexible policy born out of the pandemic, is unknown.

Target is working with the city and Metro Transit to reopen more bus lines and to address any parking and traffic problems for its employees, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Some downtown business owners and civic boosters have privately grown frustrated with Target, one of downtown’s largest employers, for not calling back workers. However, most avoid publicly criticizing the retail giant for fear of alienating one of the city’s most prized corporate brands.

On Friday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey applauded the decision.

“I’m grateful to both Target and its employees for returning to downtown, as their impact goes far beyond Target’s headquarters,” Frey said in a statement. “More restaurant tables will be filled, more coffees bought, and more people will be on the streets — all of which will only add to the momentum we’re seeing in our downtown comeback. The next time I’m standing in a longer lunch line downtown, I’ll celebrate it.”

More people work downtown Tuesday-Thursday, with as many as 150,000 office workers on those peak days, said Adam Duininck, CEO and president of the Minneapolis Downtown Council. At the start and end of the work week, those numbers dip.

U.S. Bank, Xcel Energy and Ameriprise have already called workers back to the office at least three days a week.

Duininck said he hopes downtown worker traffic will rise to pre-pandemic numbers of 200,000 to 215,000.

Brent Robertson, who leases downtown office buildings as Twin Cities market lead and managing director for JLL, said return-to-work policies “have been spreading like wildfire” among major employers across the country since Amazon announced plans to call back workers late last year.

“But Minneapolis is a Target town, so this is huge,” Robertson said. “They’re the most visible corporate citizen in our central business district. The announcement that they’ve finally capitulated and realized what organizations have realized as well — that serendipity and collaboration and inspiration don’t occur on Zoom calls from your house, and being in the office is extremely important — it’s kind of the last shoe to drop. It’s great news.”

Target’s corporate policy still has not changed. Besides five mandated in-office weeks per year, the company lets work groups decide whether they should work in the office.

“Our goal here is to align around a common expectation that allows us to maximize the potential of our hybrid, remote, and global commercial team and move forward with clarity, connection and purpose,” Gomez wrote in his email.

Some analysts have suggested the company’s largely remote work policy could be contributing to Target’s lackluster performance in recent months.

On a fourth quarter earnings call in March, Gomez recognized the need for a “new way of doing work in a new way of doing business,” emphasizing the team’s plan to “redefine how merchants show up [and] how they spend their time.”

Earlier this week, 3M said it is calling employees back to the office four days a week starting Sept. 1. General Mills still allows individual departments to manage remote work policies, but in February the company’s largest unit, North America retail, was told to report to the office three days a week.

Those two companies’ headquarters are based in the suburbs and won’t affect downtown’s daytime foot traffic.

Ameriprise, in downtown Minneapolis, already requires in-office days, but will increase the mandate from three to four days in September.

Katie Galioto of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.