Target, which already was paying workers a $15-per-hour minimum, is raising its wages further to fill vacant positions in its stores and distribution centers.
The company will offer a minimum hourly wage that ranges from the current $15 to $24 in some markets, part of a $300 million investment in increasing Target’s workforce.
The plan will also expand health care benefits for hourly employees.
“The market has changed,” Target CEO Brian Cornell said in an interview with the Associated Press. “We want to continue to have an industry-leading position.”
The retailer — which has over 1,900 stores and 350,000 employees across the country — set the market by increasing their minimum wage to $15 per hour in 2020.
After Target did this, several competitors surpassed them during the pandemic. Costco raised their minimum wage from $16 to $17 last fall, and Hobby Lobby upped its rate for full-time workers to $18.50 per hour on Jan. 1.
More than half of Costco’s employees make over $25 per hour.
“We’re certainly not perfect, but we try to take care of our employees because they play such a significant role in our success,” Costco CEO W. Craig Jelinek said earlier this year.
Walmart also boosted its workers’ wages, but they remain far below other retailers, increasing from $11 to $12 per hour.
Despite the wage increases, finding staffing remains difficult.
In one recent survey, 96% of major retailers with revenue between $500 million and $20 billion said they were having trouble filling positions.
• Peter Santo can be reached at psanto@washingtontimes.com.
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