Walmart said last week it is raising its minimum wage for store employees to $14 an hour, representing a roughly 17% jump for the workers who stock shelves and cater to customers. Walmart understands that even their employees are feeling the pitch when they are grocery shopping or getting gas.
Starting in early March, store employees will receive more money in their paychecks. Walmart employees will make between $14 and $19 an hour. They currently earn between $12 and $18 an hour, according to Walmart spokeswoman Anne Hatfield.
With the move, the retailer’s U.S. average hourly wage is expected to be more than $17.50, Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner said in an employee-wide memo last Tuesday.
About 340,000 store employees will get a raise because of the move, Hatfield said. That amounts to a pay increase for roughly 21% of Walmart’s 1.6 million employees.
Walmart is known as the retail giant, which is the country’s largest private employer and is hiking pay at an interesting moment. Prominent tech companies, media organizations, and banks, including Google, Amazon, and Goldman Sachs have laid off thousands of employees which cast a cloud of uncertainty in the job market.
Some economists believe we are heading towards a recession amid persistent inflation and shifting consumer habits.
Walmart is committed to empowering its workforce through education. The retailer is sweetening other perks to attract and retain employees, too. Furner said the company is adding more college degrees and certificates to its Live Better U program, which covers tuition and fees for part- and full-time workers. It is also creating more high-paid roles at its auto care centers. If you are interested in becoming a truck driver. Walmart is recruiting employees to become truck drivers, a job that can pay up to $110,000 in the first year.
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