As the hybrid work experiment evolves, Target is rolling out a new system to facilitate more in-office collaboration while maintaining flexibility.
Throughout 2024, the Minneapolis-based big-box retailer will bring its local corporate employees into its global headquarters four times during what the company is calling “core weeks” that are tied to events and milestones. During these weeks, Minneapolis-based employees will be expected to come into the office, and employees outside the area can come as well but will not be required to attend.
Target still maintains a hybrid work model, which allows some employees to work remotely. According to Target spokesperson Brian Harper-Tibaldo, 35 percent of Target’s Minneapolis-based team comes into the office at least once per week.
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“Target remains committed to a flexible, hybrid work model for our global headquarters team. Together, managers and teams identify when work needs to happen onsite and when it can be accomplished in a hybrid way,” Harper-Tibaldo said in a statement. “We see our hybrid model as a strategic advantage that makes our team stronger, helps us attract and retain top talent and supports our culture.”
Harper-Tibaldo added that the goal of the new program is to “drive connectedness, celebrate our team and build our internal culture.” He said that the company has already communicated to teams that the core weeks will be scheduled in September, early March, late May and mid-November.
Target’s new office guidelines come as major corporations rethink their pandemic-era hybrid models and some begin upping their in-office requirements for employees. In October, Nike announced it was increasing its office requirement for its Beaverton, Ore., employees to four days a week, up from its three days a week requirement that had been in place since May 2022. In a statement, Nike said it has “seen the power and energy that comes from working together in person.”
And in February, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that employees would be required to be in the office three days a week starting in May. Apple, Goldman Sachs and other companies have also increased their office time requirements.
But when it comes to footwear, few companies outside of Nike have announced major changes to their pandemic office setups. Adidas, for example, has not changed its hybrid model that it introduced in April 2022, requiring U.S. employees to come into the office for three days or more a week, with the option to take an extra two weeks per year to work remotely from anywhere. Under Armour has also operated a three-day in-office hybrid model since September.
