As the economy has reopened, one common post-lockdown theme has been a shortage of workers in a number of industries, and that shortfall of manpower is fueling a rise in wages unseen since the early 1980s.
Average pay for nonmanagerial workers in restaurants and supermarkets climbed past $15 an hour for the first time in U.S. history, with the charge being led by big business. Best Buy, Costco, Disney and Target have all made $15 an hour the benchmark for starting salaries, with CVS set to join the group next summer.
The wage hike at the big boys will likely force smaller companies to eventually keep pace, according to research at Brandeis and Princeton Universities.
Listen to your favorite News/Talk station now on Audacy.
That puts 80% of all of the nation’s workforce making at least that much, according to the Washington Post, up from 60% in 2014. And it’s a change that’s likely here to stay: worker wages rarely go down once they’ve been lifted.
Further, the Post reports that the average wage for the nation’s entire nonmanagerial workforce across all vocations is now at $25.83 per hour.
That’s a 7.8% rise just since the beginning of the pandemic last March.
In the hospitality industry, that translates to a 10.5% jump, with retail climbing 9.7% and a 7% increase at supermarkets.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign up and follow Audacy
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram