- Target eliminated overnight and backroom shifts in stores across the country, the company confirmed to Business Insider.
- The move is part of a general "modernization" plan that is meant to increase the availability of the team to help guests on the floor.
- Business Insider spoke to more than 50 current and former employees in Target stores across the country, many of whom said that their back rooms were becoming unsafe, overcrowded "nightmares" because of the changes involved with modernization. Many said that sales floors were becoming messier and that workloads have become difficult to manage.
- "Our store leaders and team members undergo mandatory safety training every year and we invest in the technology, tools and processes that keep our stores safe and ensure we comply with all federal safety guidelines. We work quickly to investigate and remedy issues anytime we receive safety-related concerns from our team members," Target said in a statement to Business Insider last week. A spokesperson declined to comment further for this story.
- Here are photos that show how modernization has impacted Target stores across the country.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Target stores are undergoing some massive changes.
The company is currently in the process of implementing a new way for the stores to function, which includes the elimination of overnight and backroom shifts in many stores as well as a new, detailed process for unloading merchandise from a truck.
These changes are part of a "modernization" program that is meant to drive efficiency and allow for workers to increase their availability to help guests on the floor. But many workers say changes have created an increase in workload, which has led to overcrowded back rooms and sales floors in Target stores across the country.
Read more: Target's back rooms are becoming unsafe, overcrowded 'nightmares' as the company cuts shifts and hours, workers say
Business Insider spoke to more than 50 current and former employees in Target stores across the country, many of whom said their stores were becoming overcrowded and chaotic as a result of the changes. Most of them spoke on condition of anonymity so that they could speak frankly about working conditions and the situation more generally at Target. Many of them sent photos that revealed the conditions they described.
"Our store leaders and team members undergo mandatory safety training every year and we invest in the technology, tools and processes that keep our stores safe and ensure we comply with all federal safety guidelines. We work quickly to investigate and remedy issues anytime we receive safety-related concerns from our team members," Target said in a statement to Business Insider last week. A spokesperson declined to comment further for this story.
"I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat," said one salaried Target executive in Texas, adding that the increased workload put severe pressure on his store.
"The backrooms in the majority of the stores show how Target cannot keep up with the workload," the salaried Target executive said. "It's a hot mess."
Below are photos sent in from current and former Target workers across the country.