Target has 25,000 fewer employees than a year ago.

In its latest annual report, the Minneapolis-based retailer disclosed that it had about 415,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal workers as of Feb. 3. That is a nearly 6% decline from the 440,000 people it reported employing around the same time a year ago.

The shrinking headcount is especially notable because it comes during a time in which one might have expected Target's number of workers to grow due to having an additional eight stores across the chain. Target opened 21 stores and closed 13 in the past year. It has a total of about 1,950 stores.

In a statement, Target said its employee count fluctuates every year based on the needs of its business.

"The year-over-year comparison also is influenced by our intentional focus on providing our existing team members with more hours before hiring seasonally," the company said.

That number includes workers in its stores and fulfillment centers as well as corporate employees. It does not include independent contractors, such as delivery people through its Shipt service.

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said Target did talk about eliminating temporary and part-time positions during the holidays in favor of giving more hours to existing workers. But he also wondered if Target has been paring back on store workers more generally help improve profits at a time of lower sales.

"I think they have been trimming because one of the things they've been very conscious about is the sales numbers are not great," he said. "So they want to ensure that the profit numbers look good."

He said retailers in general seem to be belt-tightening at a time when sales growth is more challenging.

The tight labor market may also be an additional factor, he said.

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