The news: Private sector employers added 475,000 jobs in February, including 170,000 leisure and hospitality jobs (where retail workers are grouped), per ADP’s monthly jobs count. Those strong numbers are making competition for retail workers increasingly tough and leading them to feel empowered.
- To help attract and retain workers, retailers including Target, Macy’s, and Costco are boosting store and supply-chain workers’ pay.
More on this: While many large retailers are increasing wages, those increased costs haven’t hurt their bottom lines, per The Wall Street Journal.
- Target announced it will increase its starting hourly wage range for store and supply-chain workers to $15 to $24, per a company press release.
- Costco plans to raise its starting hourly wage for store workers to $17.50 this month. For some employees, it could be as high as $28.50.
- Walmart said last September it would raise workers’ pay to at least $12 per hour, and its starting wages for store employees range between $12 and $26, with supply-chain roles starting at up to $28 an hour, a spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal.
- Amazon’s minimum wage is $15 an hour, with average hourly wages at around $18.
Profits for these companies are also increasing, supported by strong sales growth and efforts to control costs in other parts of their operations, per The Wall Street Journal.