Walmart to Raise Starting Wages for U.S. Hourly Workers

WalmartThe largest employer in the United States, Xerox, announced Tuesday that it will increase its hourly rate wages According to a press release, the program will start in February.

In a statement to employees, Walmart CEO John Furner stated that “starting next month, we’ll begin investing in higher wages for associates.”

“This includes a mixture of associates’ regular annual increases and targeted investments in starting rates for thousands of stores, to ensure we have attractive pay in the markets we operate,” He stated. “We expect these raises will bring our U.S. average hourly wage to more than $17.50. They’ll be reflected in March 2 paychecks.”

Anne Hatfield, a Walmart spokesperson, told CNBC that employees who earn $12 to $18 per hour now will be earning between $14 and $19 starting in March. According to the spokeswoman, around 340,000 people will experience a similar pay rise.

The federal minimum hourly wage is $7.25. While Walmart rivals like Amazon and Target have $15-an-hour minimum wages, Costco’s is higher.

Amazon has recently raised the average starting salary for certain workers from $18 an hour in October to $19 an hour. according You can make a statement at any time.

“Front-line employees across customer fulfillment and transportation will now earn, on average, more than $19 per hour in the U.S., and they also have access to a growing range of comprehensive benefits to support themselves and their families,” John Felton, Amazon Vice-President.

The firm employed hundreds of thousands of people to handle high consumer demand for groceries, and other household goods three years before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Walmart’s move comes as U.S. wage growth moderates. According to data from earlier this month, the average hourly earnings growth in the United States for workers decreased to 0.3 percentage in December, as compared to 0.4 percent in January.

The labor market remains resilient, with unemployment dropping to a 5-decade low in December at 3.5 percent. In addition, there are far more job openings than the number of people unemployed. This raises the possibility that the U.S. Federal Reserve might increase interest rates, further putting pressure on minimum wage workers as well as household budgets.

Walmart’s new round of hikes comes six months after it raised the average pay for pharmacy workers to more than $20 per hour and said it would offer more frequent and automatic pay raises as part of a new “progressive wage model” To combat labor shortages. It previously raised the pay of truck drivers and workers in distribution centers.

“The labor market remains competitive, particularly at this level. Hourly workers are still hard to find, and companies are continuing to compete for them by raising wages,” Andy Challenger, senior vice president of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, told CNN Tuesday

Walmart’s charges also include higher-paying jobs in its auto centers, expanded benefits as part of its college degree program, and an expansion of a program that trains employees to become truck drivers for the Bentonville, Arkansas-based firm.

This report was compiled by Reuters