October 19, 2010 - Trucido3717

Deception and Deceit at new SuperTarget in Mesquite, TX

I was hired on to Target about 2 months before a new SuperTarget opened in Mesquite, TX on October 11, 2009. There’s a lot I wish to hit on but I’d be here all day so I’d instead like to give you a brief example of how Target deceived and lied to its’ employees and the community.

From the very beginning Target discourages any type of unionization among employees. Always report everything to your Team Leader or HR. Never form any type of union at all. Unions are evil. You will be represented by Human Resources. They go on to tell you of how supportive their management staff is and how they are there to help you.

I was there for Target’s grand opening speech where the Store Manager said that it would bring in over 300 jobs to the city. This of course was a bold lie. The following is something I can’t prove, but this is what happened. Draw your own conclusions.

1. Target opens the store with over a 300 member staff. This creates a good appearance for customers for the store because there is a Target team member on every aisle. Customer service is shown to be excellent with its’ large staff of employees. Employees receive over 30 hours a week.

2. As the hype of the new Target starts to die down to a steady stream of customers who are now returning because of the wide selection and excellent customer service, the termination of employees begins with the 90-day review. I’ve never heard of a 100% positive 90-day review from any of my co-workers.  Many were told, even if they weren’t fired, that other employees were complaining of their work ethic. Even if one’s Team Leader of the department made an entirely positive review there would always be a BUT at the end. This of course creates division amongst employees who are now on edge of losing their new job. I’m unaware of how many were fired at this 90-day mark but as for the food sections of the store (Bakery, Deli, Grocery, Meat and Produce) we easily lost over 20 employees initially. I know the other departments took equal if not harder hits as well. My best guess is that the 300 member staff became closer to 200. An estimated 1/3 of the staff is cut at 90 days.

3. Benefits are something that are talked about a lot at Target. Eyes, dental…pretty much everything. To qualify you have to have above 30 hours a week. This sounds great to everyone which is why Target boasts they treat their employees fairly. Around January the Mesquite store started cutting hours due to what they said was a lack of sales. Except for the Team Leaders, everyone went below 30 hours a week that I knew of. I went from 38 hours a week to 28 by the start of 2010. I was unable to qualify for any sort of health benefits.

4. In February of 2010 all departments took an additional cut of hours. I went from 28 hours to 20 at this time. I considered myself lucky as most people in my department were getting 15 hours or less. I even had my Executive Team Leader come to me one week telling me he had worked to get me additional hours in another department (5 additional hours a week) This of course is not enough to live on. Target says not to talk to employees about how much they make, but from talking around in my department it became evident that the ones that made more money that were new received less hours. The employees that were there longer received more hours. Then there was me who made less money but received the most hours out of the new team members.  Shifts were cut to 1 opener, 1 mid-day and 1 closing shift in my department. Before it was 2 openers 2 mid-day and 2 closers. 50% less staff in a given day. Working the closing shift quite often, I ended up having to cover other departments. Grocery only ended up having 2 closers on average who were sent to the clothing and other sections to straighten up leaving no one in the section to help customers. Also, there was no one who closed Dairy, no one who closed the Meat Department except on truck days…and only 1 person in Bakery, Deli and Produce closing at a night. If one took a lunch, the other departments had to cover for that. Not to mention it created an added strain on team members who were already having to cover for Grocery and Meat along with their own section. No one was ever fired  at this point because for one, more employees creates fewer hours making it safe to not have to pay for benefits,  and two, if anyone is laid off, Target would have to pay for unemployment. So things stayed that way.

5. I ended up leaving Target and finding a much better job that actually had quality and care for their employees. I considered myself fortunate. I came back and visited once only to find they had another huge hour cut (this time in July). Yes, nothing had improved at all and had actually had gotten worse in 6 months. They had their 6 month review after I left in which I was told by numerous employees that the maximum they gave out was .60 cents (one or two people received this). Almost every employee I talked to as I made my rounds talking to people made .19 cents or less in their raise.

Yes, this is a brand new store that completely took advantage of the city of Mesquite (who I’m sure gave tax breaks to) and its employees who were exploited beyond belief. Boycott Target.

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Employee Experience / TargetSucks