===Target to cut 1,800 corporate-level jobs

Target announced today it will cut about 1,000 global corporate employees and cut 800 open roles, representing 8% of its headquarters workforce, as part of a major restructuring initiative to accelerate its turnaround.

The company will share details of the changes next Tuesday and asked all U.S. corporate employees to work from home next week, he said in the memo. “It will be difficult,” said Fiddelke. “It’s a necessary step.”

Target has reported 11 consecutive quarters of falling or weak comparable sales growth and named Fiddelke as its next CEO over the summer. 

Fiddelke, who has spent his career at Target, will officially take the role in February, but in August said he was already working to speed up the pace of improvements, including assessing the company’s headquarters structure, and refreshing the retailer’s sharp focus on design.

===Applied Materials to cut 4% of its workforce as part of automation and operational changes

Applied Materials is cutting about 4% of its global workforce, effective immediately.

The semiconductor company said it is taking one coordinated workforce action as “automation, digitalization and geographic shifts are redefining our workforce needs and skill requirements,” according to a letter to employees, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.

The company has started notifying employees as of Oct. 23, the letter said.

Applied Materials expects to incur charges of about $160 million to $180 million related to the terminations, and will recognize most of that cost in the fourth quarter. The plan should be completed in the fiscal-first quarter of 2026.

The company plans to continue its focus on “building high-velocity, high-productivity teams, adopting new technologies and simplifying organizational structures” and wants to be “better positioned to scale effectively,” according to the letter.

Applied Materials had 36,100 regular full-time employees as of July 27, according to its latest earnings release from August.

===Meta Cuts 600 Jobs in AI Division

Meta Platforms is cutting about 600 jobs in its AI division, according to an internal memo that was viewed by The Wall Street Journal and a person familiar with the matter.

The job cuts will affect the company’s teams focused on artificial-intelligence products, infrastructure and long-term AI research, but won’t touch TBD Lab, the new team that houses most of Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s multimillion-dollar hires, the memo said.

Since the lackluster launch of Meta’s latest Llama large language model in the spring, the company has been on a crusade to reset its AI plans and stay competitive with other leading companies racing to develop cutting-edge AI technology. 

Meta acquired a 49% stake in startup Scale AI and hired its CEO, Wang, to run a newly formed AI division focused on developing so-called superintelligence. Zuckerberg also became the company’s recruiter-in-chief, personally reaching out to prospective AI hires to invite them to his homes for meals and pitches on why they should join his company. Another part of the pitch was lofty multimillion-dollar pay packages.

Meta ultimately managed to poach more than 50 engineers, researchers and other employees from competitors like OpenAI, Alphabet’s Google and Apple. Many of those hires are part of the secretive TBD Lab team at Meta, which has taken over development of the company’s models. 

That team sits near Zuckerberg’s desk at Meta’s Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters and has separate badges to get into their designated section. None of the people on the team were affected by Wednesday’s cuts, according to the memo.