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Target Denies IT Layoffs In India While Borders Promises Them

Written by Evan Schuman
February 1st, 2010
This has been a difficult—and truly odd—last few weeks in the retail IT world. Target CIO Beth Jacob made the highly unusual move of issuing a statement denying that the retailer planned to sell its Target India IT operation. (What does it mean when the executive vice president of a $63 billion retail chain publicly reiterates its commitment to your team? Update your resume.)

“Our captive center in Bangalore continues to be an important part of our long-term strategy and is highly integrated with our work and team in Minneapolis,” said a statement attributed to Jacob, who is a Target executive vice president in addition to being the chain's CIO. Added Tim Baer (another Target executive vice president and general counsel): “We do not know the source of this ridiculous speculation, but we can absolutely reaffirm that it is unequivocally not true.” If the speculation is so ridiculous, why issue a statement quoting two executive vice presidents? The only sentence in the execs’ statement that describes these rumors says: "The company emphatically refutes the irresponsible rumor that it is engaged in any discussions, or has any plans, to sell its Target India operations." This is where things get scary.

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