On Tuesday, the retail giant Walmart announced that it would be raising its starting wage for store employees by 17% to $14 an hour. The pay increase comes as Walmart’s competitors are also evaluating their starting wages for retail workers.
In early March, store employees will begin making $14-$19 an hour, up from the current wages of $12-$18, Walmart spokesperson Anne Hatfield shared with CNBC.
The announcement comes almost a year after Walmart’s biggest retail competitor Target, shared that its new starting wage range would be moved to $15-$24 an hour for store employees.
In a memo sent to employees on Tuesday, Walmart US CEO John Furner shared that the retailer’s average hourly wage in the US is expected to be more than $17.50. Furner also noted that the pay increases would go to parts of the country where the labor market is more competitive as they attempt to attract and retain employees.
Other perks that Walmart is offering to employees include the addition of more college degrees and certificates to the company’s Live Better U program that covers tuition and fees for workers.
The company shared that it is also looking to create higher-paying roles in its auto care centers and recruit workers to become truck drivers, which can pay up to $110,000 in the first year.
Hatfield shared that the pay move is expected to affect approximately 340,000 store employees, amounting to a pay increase for roughly 21% of Walmart’s employees.
Still, the pay bump does come with its costs, as Furner said it would be a part of many of the employees’ annual increases.
The pay bump also comes as dozens of companies like Spotify, Goldman Sachs, Amazon, and even Walmart have laid off corporate workers.
However, Walmart has yet to announce any layoffs for its retail employees, as the demand for service industry workers continues. For example, Walmart has 30,000 jobs listed on its career site.
Other than Walmart and Target, others in the retail world, like Amazon, Cost Co, and Best Buy, have also bumped their minimum wages in an effort to appeal to workers.
Furner and others in the retail industry have cited higher cost of living and inflation as a reason behind the pay bumps, saying that workers need more in their paychecks.
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