What was Target's global employee headcount over the past five years?

1. What the official filings and company materials say

Target’s 2024 Annual Report states, “As of February 1, 2025, we employed approximately 440,000 full‑time, part‑time, and seasonal team members,” establishing FY2025 headcount at ~440,000 ^[1]. Multiple data aggregators and financial summaries echo that same figure for the fiscal year end Feb. 1, 2025 ^{[6] [7]}.

2. Year‑by‑year snapshot for the past five fiscal years

Available sources give a recent five‑year pattern where 2021 ≈ 450,000, 2022 ≈ 450,000 (reported peak), 2023 ≈ 440,000, 2024 ≈ 415,000, and 2025 ≈ 440,000 (fiscal year ending Feb. 1, 2025) — though some outlets list slightly different intermediate values ^{[3] [6] [2] [8]}. Trading Economics and news coverage cite 415,000 for the fiscal year ending Feb. 2024 ^{[2] [5]}. Expandedramblings and other aggregators show variation in their timelines but confirm the same overall swing between ~415k–450k ^[8].

3. Why the headcount moves year to year

Reporting attributes the declines and rebounds to business‑needs and seasonal staffing practices rather than mass permanent layoffs. Target told reporters that recent year‑over‑year declines were influenced by focusing hours on existing store workers rather than hiring seasonal staff ^{[4] [5]}. Analysts and data sites interpret the 2022–2024 movement as shifts tied to store growth, supply‑chain capacity, and operational rebalancing ^{[9] [8]}.

4. Conflicting numbers and data‑aggregation pitfalls

Some third‑party sites show divergent totals — for example, LeadIQ’s July 2025 page lists ~160,000 (which sharply conflicts with company filings), while other aggregators consistently mirror the 440,000/415,000 figures ^{[10] [6]}. These discrepancies reflect differences in methodology: some services may count only U.S. full‑time equivalents, exclude seasonal or contractor roles (notably Shipt shoppers), or rely on stale snapshots rather than the company’s fiscal‑year reporting ^{[11] [1]}. Available sources do not mention a single, standardized alternative counting method that explains every discrepancy.

5. What’s included and what may be excluded from the headcount

Target’s reported headcounts explicitly cover “full‑time, part‑time, and seasonal team members”; the company also engages independent contractors (such as many Shipt shoppers), who usually aren’t included in those totals ^{[1] [11]}. Several articles and the 10‑K note that contractors and gig workers are treated differently in disclosures; therefore headcount numbers understate the total network of people providing services for Target ^[11].

6. How journalists and data sites interpreted the 2023–2024 decline

Major coverage in March 2024 highlighted that Target’s headcount fell by about 25,000 year‑over‑year to roughly 415,000, a nearly 6% decline from the prior year’s ~440,000; Target framed that as an operational choice rather than a broad workforce reduction ^{[4] [5]}. Local reporting and analysts emphasized the company’s statement that the change reflected staffing mix and scheduling choices ^[4].

7. Bottom line and guidance for researchers

For an authoritative five‑year series use Target’s own annual reports and SEC filings (the 2024 Annual Report gives 440,000 as of Feb. 1, 2025); cross‑check with contemporary news reporting for explanations of year‑to‑year moves ^{[1] [2] [5]}. Be cautious relying on aggregators that don’t disclose methodology — they sometimes report numbers (e.g., 160K) that conflict with Target’s filings ^[10]. Available sources do not mention a reconciled, single‑source dataset that resolves every discrepancy across third‑party trackers.

Limitations: this summary uses only the provided sources; if you want a precise year‑by‑year table tied directly to Target’s SEC 10‑K footnotes I can extract those entries from the filings you provide or fetch the company’s full 10‑K/10‑Q sequence for exact fiscal‑year snapshots (available sources do not mention a ready five‑row table beyond the cited summaries).