March 25, 2025
Target’s DEI Pullback Results In Decreased Bonuses For Salaried Employees
Target’s CEO Brian Cornell warned fresh produce imports from Mexico would take a direct hit from the tariffs, heightening price increases.
Target’s decision to reduce its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has resulted in lawsuits, boycotts, and decreased salary bonuses.
Concerns over President Donald Trump’s tariff plans and a decrease in foot traffic from boycotts led Target to announce a reduction in salary bonuses, with employees receiving 87% of their eligible 2024 bonuses compared to 100% in previous years. Target’s CEO Brian Cornell warned that fresh produce imports from Mexico, specifically bananas, avocados, and strawberries, would be a direct target of the tariffs and would heighten price increases.
Nasdaq reported a decline in Target’s fourth-quarter earnings compared to 2023, with a 3.1% decline in revenues. Shares dropped 1.16% to $102.99, with a 2,702,662 volume.
Target isn’t the only popular company to dial back on DEI, as McDonald’s and Walmart have made similar moves. The company’s decision resulted in a 40-day boycott supported by civil rights leaders like Pastor Jamal Bryant, advocacy groups, and African-American consumers.
In addition, the company faces litigation including one from shareholders, who in a discrimination lawsuit allege company directors “betrayed both Target’s core customer base of working families and its investors by making false and misleading statements concerning Target’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) mandates that led to its disastrous 2023 children-and-family themed LGBTPride campaign.”
The state of Florida launched another suit.
The popular retailer has faced financial scrutiny. In November 2024, Target reported its most considerable earnings miss in years, revealing its stock had fallen by more than 20%. Despite the decrease in numbers, Target initiated a plan to reel customers back in by dropping prices on non-essential items such as apparel and home goods.
The change in salary incentives provided is a vast turnaround from Target’s announcement in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. On then-Twitter, now known as X, the company was celebrated for investing more than $300 million in increasing hourly wages, adding a new paid leave program, and providing bonuses and community assistance. Several responses expressed gratitude and called for other companies to take similar actions.
In hopes of returning its reputation to what it once was, Target announced a plan to revitalize the brand with an investment between $4 billion and $5 billion to upgrade existing stores and open close to 20 new locations, some already opening in California, Texas, and Arizona. To open roughly 300 new stores in the U.S. over the next 10 years, Target plans to expand its private-label food line, Good & Gather, with 600 new food and beverage choices.
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