If you've found yourself on Facebook Tuesday, you know thousands of school kids are heading back to the classroom this week. Back-to-school, that annual tradition of photos at the bus stop, is well-known.
Did you see any photos of mom and dad heading back to the office though? Thousands of workers at some of the Twin Cities largest companies are heading back to the office - whether they like it or not.
A few thousand buyers, planners and supply chain managers assigned to Target Corporation headquarters in downtown Minneapolis among them, with employees able to set their own schedules and choose which three days of the week they'll be in-office.
In announcing the move, which happened to coincide with another weak earnings report from the Minneapolis-based retail giant, Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez said, "more time together, in the office, will help us grow our business faster, solve problems quickly, and build stronger relationships."
Second quarter net sales at Target were $25.2 billion, (0.9) percent lower than 2024. The silver lining was the earnings represent a nearly 2$ point improvement versus the first quarter.
Target CEO Brian Cornell announced last month he was stepping down in February with current COO Michael Fiddelke taking over the company that has been stuck in a sales malaise as they attempt to revive its reputation as the place to go for affordable but stylish products.
Over in St. Paul, corporate giant 3M is requiring employees worldwide to be in the office four days a week. 3M management is saying they are building upon the momentum of the company's flexible "collaboration days" policy which started last year.
The same thing is true in other cities across the U.S. In Detroit, the Ford Motor Company is calling the majority of its salaried workforce back to the office four days a week, in an effort to boost employee and company performance.
Back in June, Ford notified its global salaried workforce of the new policy — stating that the change would take effect on September 1. With Monday being Labor Day, that likely means most workers will be back in the office on Tuesday.
In a statement, a Ford spokesperson explained the reasoning behind the decision:
“We believe working together in person on a day-to-day basis will help accelerate Ford’s transformation into a higher growth, higher margin, less cyclical and more dynamic company.”