Over 500 Target employees affected by New York, Seattle, Oregon closures

More than 500 Target employees will be impacted by the crime-related store closures in New York, Seattle and Oregon, according to documents filed in the respective states.

There are about 90 employees at the two store locations in Seattle that are slated to close by Oct. 21, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN). 

There are another 293 employees at the store in New York City, which is also set to close on Oct. 21, and another 158 employees at the soon-to-be shuttered stores in Oregon, according to separate WARN notices.

Target previously said it will be "partnering closely with all eligible team members" to offer them a transfer. 

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Although the stores will close at the end of the month, separations for workers who don't transfer to another location won't take effect until the end of December, according to the documents. This means employees who don't move to another location will still receive their normal pay until Dec. 30. 

The company said in a WARN notice filed in Oregon that it expects "few involuntary terminations."

Target announced last week that it was going to have to shutter nine locations due to persisting organized retail crime, which cost the industry $112 billion in losses in 2022. 

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The move comes after CEO Brian Cornell said earlier this year that the company would "continue to do everything in our power to keep our doors open" given that closures hurt communities that rely on them. 

Even with its increased efforts in combating crime such as adding more security and implementing theft-deterrent tools, the company is still facing "fundamental challenges" in operating these stores safely, Target said.

Industry executives and the National Retail Federation (NRF) – the largest retail trade group in the nation – agreed that retailers can't be left to fight this problem alone and that policy reform is needed to move the needle. 

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The NRF has said that initiatives such as raising the felony theft threshold, which is the amount that must be stolen in order to be considered a felony, as well as removing or eliminating cash bail "may have unintended consequences for retail theft."