Target seasonal jobs are open now, with no national hiring count. Target updated its seasonal staffing fact sheet on October 7, 2026, and it gives pay, benefits and the hiring order, but no headcount for the country.
The number you’ll see most often, about 100,000 seasonal team members, comes from Target’s September 2024 announcement, not from anything Target has said in 2026.
What 2026 does have is a clear sequence. Target fills holiday hours from its current team and its On Demand pool before it hires anyone new, so the applicants who get through are the ones whose availability covers the gaps left over. That makes a Target seasonal job a tryout with a real shot at staying, if you can work the hours nobody else wants.
How many seasonal workers is Target hiring in 2026?
Target hasn’t given a 2026 national seasonal headcount. Its fact sheet, updated October 7, 2026, says Target hires seasonal team members “to meet local demand” across more than 2,000 stores and 60-plus supply chain facilities, and local counts are the only 2026 numbers so far.
The clearest one is from Atlanta. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on October 8, 2026 that a Target spokesperson said the retailer plans to hire 2,300 seasonal employees for its metro Atlanta stores, at a starting wage of $15 to $24 an hour. WSB-TV in Atlanta ran the same 2,300 figure that day.
Does that point to another 100,000 nationwide? You can’t tell from one metro area, and Target hasn’t said.
For comparison, Target’s September 16, 2024 press release said it planned to hire approximately 100,000 seasonal team members across stores and supply chain facilities. Target’s September 23, 2025 seasonal story gave no national count at all.
Why the vague number? The fact sheet explains it with the order Target staffs in. Target says it first offers additional hours to current team members, then taps its On Demand team, which it puts at approximately 43,000 store team members who pick up shifts that suit their schedules. Seasonal hires fill what’s left, store by store.
So what does that order mean for your application? By the time you apply, your store has already counted the extra hours its regulars will take and the shifts its On Demand people will pick up.
What’s left tends to be early mornings, closes and weekends. Target’s careers page for seasonal jobs says early-morning and overnight hours carry added pay, and an open schedule will help you more than a long resume.
When does Target hire seasonal employees?
Target opens seasonal applications in late September and keeps hiring into November. Applications opened September 25 in 2024 and September 24 in 2025, according to Target’s own announcements, and in 2026 the postings are live on its careers site with in-store hiring events set for mid-October.
Target’s holiday recruiting events page listed stores in 17 states when we checked on October 12, 2026, from Connecticut to Wisconsin. Most events fall on October 17 and 18, a handful run on October 24 and 25, and a few stores keep going on weekends through November 21 and 22.
Don’t wait for the last date. The Hollywood, Florida seasonal store posting we read on October 12, 2026 listed an application deadline of December 10, 2026, but a seasonal warehouse posting in Shafter, California closed on October 11. If you want warehouse work, apply now, since that one shut before the store events even began.
Holiday scheduling starts sooner than you might expect. One October 2025 reply in r/Target put it simply: “Holiday hours will be starting for most next month.”
From application to first shift
Your path depends on where you apply. Target’s October 2026 fact sheet says store candidates go through pre-recorded video and online interviews, while supply chain candidates submit an application plus online assessments.
You apply through TargetSeasonalJobs.com, and the Apply buttons on Target’s seasonal postings lead to its Workday site. For store jobs the recorded video is the gate, and our breakdown of Target’s six recorded questions walks through each prompt and how much time you get to answer.
What decides most seasonal hires, though? Usually it’s the schedule you can commit to. When I interviewed hourly applicants at Walmart, the availability section was the first thing I read, because a holiday schedule gets built around whoever can cover the hard shifts.
Say this: “I can work weekday closes and any weekend shift through New Year’s, and I’m free Black Friday.” Not this: “I’m pretty flexible.” The first one gives a scheduler something to plan with, and the second gives them nothing to write down.
Two checks come after you say yes. Target’s careers FAQ says certain jobs require a drug screen under its Drug Free Workplace policy, that you’ll be told at the time of offer if yours is one of them, and that you must complete the screen within 24 hours of accepting. Our page on whether Target drug tests shows where that line usually falls. Before your first shift, read the Target dress code, since it changed in July 2026.
Target holiday jobs: the roles and what they pay
Most Target holiday jobs are in stores. The fact sheet says the majority of seasonal team members stock shelves, work the style departments, help guests at checkout and fill online orders, while supply chain seasonals move product out to stores and guests.
Target’s company-wide figure is a starting wage of $15 to $24 an hour, depending on role and location, per the October 2026 fact sheet. Where does your job land in that range? Individual postings show it. Here’s what three Target seasonal jobs listed when we read them on October 12, 2026:
| Role | What you do | Posted start pay | Posting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonal store team | Checkout, sales floor, online orders, style, tech | $16.50 an hour | Hollywood, FL |
| Seasonal 4am Inbound | Early-morning stocking, lifting up to 40 lb | $20.00 an hour | Albany, CA |
| Seasonal warehouse associate | Pack, load and ship in a distribution center | $23.15 to $26.40 an hour | Shafter, CA (closed Oct. 11) |
Location moves the number as much as the role does.
Those two California postings sit well above the Florida store rate, and the Shafter posting adds a shift differential of $2.00 to $3.50 an hour for eligible shifts. It also lists a separate Warehouse Worker track starting at $24.90, for people trained on powered equipment such as forklifts.
The warehouse work is heavier, too, since that Shafter posting asks you to lift 35 to 50 pounds frequently and up to 60 pounds occasionally, on 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. shifts on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Store postings ask you to handle up to 40 pounds and keep a schedule that includes nights, weekends and holidays.
Benefits start on day one for seasonal team members, according to the fact sheet. You get early pay access through DailyPay, backup child care through Bright Horizons, 24/7 virtual care through CirrusMD and Spring Health mental health support.
You also get the team member discount: 10% at Target stores and Target.com, plus an extra 20% off select wellness items and adult owned-brand apparel and accessories. The Target employee discount guide explains how to set it up in Workday so it works in your first week.
Health insurance works differently, because medical coverage at Target depends on averaging 25 hours a week, as laid out in our Target employee benefits breakdown, so don’t count on it from a holiday schedule alone.
Does Target keep seasonal employees after the holidays?
Target keeps a large share of its seasonal hires. The seasonal staffing fact sheet, updated October 7, 2026, says “more than half of our seasonal store team members continued with Target after the holidays” last year.
Why does the wording matter? It counts store seasonals who continued, a stronger measure than the one Target used in September 2024, when it said more than half of the prior year’s seasonal team members “were offered a position to stay.” An offer and a person who stayed aren’t the same thing.
You don’t have to stay on a regular part-time schedule, either. The fact sheet says seasonal store team members can talk to their leader about moving into an On Demand role after the holidays, picking up shifts when they want them.
Supply chain facilities don’t offer On Demand positions, so a warehouse seasonal’s choice is a regular role or the end of the job.
So at the end of the season you can stay or switch, as long as your leader wants you back. Team members on r/Target describe that decision as mostly about attendance and reliability. One August 2026 reply laid it out:
“noone can tell you if youre gonna get fired or not, obv, but at my store they keep the seasonal workers who are good. Some of the seasonals suck, and get fired, and others quit. Theres usually permanent spots available for those who are okay at their job and dont quit. I thought i was horrible at it at first, but i was dependable for the truck and my attendence, so they kept me.”
– r/Target, August 2026 (7 upvotes)
Callouts count for more than speed. A team lead put it bluntly in a December 2025 r/Target post that drew 368 upvotes:
“As a S+E TL, if you’re a seasonal tm who has called out several times, do not be surprised in a few weeks when you’re told you’re not being kept. I unfortunately have several seasonal team members who are great, but have called out maybe once a week since they’ve started. And in no way will they be kept because of that, despite their performance.”
– r/Target, December 2025 (368 upvotes)
When do you find out? In that thread, a parent said their daughter’s store told her the week after Christmas. If the answer is no, work the shifts you’re already scheduled for. That was the top reply, at 98 upvotes, to a seasonal who posted in January 2026 that they weren’t being kept: “Finish out your shifts and work like your staying. They may not change their mind but they may rehire you in the future.”
Will you get enough hours during the season? A seasonal cashier who posted in October 2025 wrote that they were told shifts run “4 hours minimum and 8 hours maximum,” mostly nights until closing at their location. If you need a set weekly paycheck, ask about expected hours before you accept.
Hours also thin out right after the holidays. In a late-December 2025 r/Target thread, seasonals reported anything from a single 4.5-hour shift to 24 hours for the week, and the worker with 24 hours said nobody had told them yet whether they were staying.
Seasonal isn’t always a holiday title, either. A cashier hired as a summer seasonal in August 2026 wrote on r/Target that the role ended after about a month, and that their team lead suggested reapplying in October.
Don’t wait until January to raise staying on. Tell your team lead in early December that you’d like to stay, and ask which openings or On Demand slots are coming.
Staying on usually doesn’t change your rate. Asked in December 2025 whether pay goes up after seasonal, the top reply on r/Target was “Nope, same pay. Evaluation in April that may grant you a small increase to you hourly pay.” That’s one team member’s account, so confirm the rate in your new offer.
Target’s September 2025 seasonal story profiled a team member who started as a seasonal fulfillment hire in 2018 and was invited to stay on by her leaders. That’s a path Target promotes, not one it promises.
Want to compare employers before you choose? Our seasonal jobs hiring roundup lines up Target against UPS, FedEx, Macy’s and others, and the UPS seasonal jobs page shows how a parcel job without an interview step stacks up.
Target seasonal jobs FAQ
When does Target hire seasonal workers?
Target hires seasonal workers from late September into November. Target opened applications on September 25 in 2024 and September 24 in 2025, and in 2026 its hiring events run mostly on October 17 and 18, with some stores holding events through November 22.
How much do Target seasonal workers make?
Target seasonal workers start at $15 to $24 an hour depending on role and location, according to Target’s October 7, 2026 fact sheet. A Florida store posting listed $16.50 in October 2026, while a California warehouse posting started at $23.15.
Does Target keep seasonal employees after the holidays?
Yes, Target keeps many seasonal employees. Its fact sheet updated October 7, 2026 says more than half of its seasonal store team members continued with Target after the holidays last year. If you work in a store, you can also ask to move into an On Demand role.
How long is seasonal employment at Target?
Target doesn’t print an end date for seasonal roles in its fact sheet or in the postings we read in October 2026. The seasonal title can stretch past the holidays, too: a seasonal worker on r/Target wrote in August 2026 that they’d been on since June and were told they’d work back-to-school until the end of the season. Ask your recruiter for your last scheduled day.
How old do you have to be to work seasonal at Target?
Target’s careers FAQ doesn’t list a minimum age for seasonal work, and none of the three seasonal postings we read on October 12, 2026 printed one. Check the requirements on the posting you want, or ask at a hiring event, because warehouse and store roles can differ.