Walmart Boosts Wages
Employees at major retailers like Walmart and Amazon have worked hard during the pandemic โ gathering products from store shelves for online deliveries, which have seen a massive increase in demand amid the pandemic. Thankfully, their hard work is not going unnoticed.
On Thursday, Walmart announced the company would raise wages for about 425,000 hourly employees in the United States. The pay raises will be for employees in digital and stocking roles โย these are the employees who have made Walmart’s strong fiscal year possible. Additionally, Walmart CEO Doug McMillion said the wage increase would be for employees who have been with Walmart for a longer time than employees that might be earning the entry wage.
Walmart currently has about 1.5 million hourly employees in the U.S. โ it is the country’s largest private employer, followed by Amazon. In 2018, Amazon raised its starting wage in the U.S. to $15 an hour and hired half a million workers. And last year, Best Buy and Target raised their starting wage for all workers to $15. Now, Walmart is following suit to remain competitive. The retailer said it would boost wages to an average above $15 an hour, up from its average of $14 an hour. Walmart will raise wages in relevance to geography โ some parts of the country should have lower wages than others.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillion said, “We completed a strong year and a strong Q4 thanks to our amazing associates. They stepped up to serve our customers and members exceptionally well during a busy holiday period amid a pandemic.”
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