Dive Brief:

• Target Corp. on Wednesday announced “worldwide” layoffs of 475 jobs and a decision not to fill 700 vacant positions. Unnamed sources told news outlets that most of the cuts were to the company’s Minneapolis headquarters.

• Sales and profits had been falling throughout 2013 at the country’s second-largest retailer, and the now-infamous data breach of millions of customers’ credit cards during the holiday season didn't help. A recent expansion into Canada also hasn’t yielded expected profits.

• The news of layoffs came a day after the company announced it won’t be offering part-time workers health benefits, saying better deals for their part-time employees could be had under the Affordable Care Act. The company says only 10% of those workers opt for health benefits.

Dive Insight:

This news of layoffs at Target feels a little like a pile-on in the midst of all the data-breach stories. But these days, a lot of retailers are feeling the pinch of a tough holiday season and continued price pressures from consumers even into the New Year. Target is clearly tightening its belt, which could yield healthy results, but before too long, it may need to broadcast some good news for a change.