An employee at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Los Angeles, California. Arranges beauty product gift boxes displayed for sale on location.
Patrick T. Fallen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
walmart said Tuesday it is raising its minimum wage for store workers to $14 an hour, representing a nearly 17% jump for employees who stock shelves and cater to customers.
Beginning in March, store workers will earn 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 US average wage is expected to exceed $17.50, Walmart US CEO John Furner said Tuesday in an employee-detailed memo.
Hatfield said the move would increase the wages of about 340,000 store workers. That’s about a quarter of Walmart’s 1.3 million employees who work in the field, driving trucks, packing online purchases and serving in stores.
The retail giant, which is the country’s largest private employer with 1.6 million employees, is raising wages as part of an annual increase in staff. Retailers are battling a tight labor market despite thousands of job cuts at major tech companies, banks and media organizations.
In the employee memo, Ferner said the salary increase would be part of many employees’ annual raises. The company said some of those pay increases will also go toward store employees who work in parts of the country where the labor market is more competitive.
Walmart is also sweetening the other perks to attract and retain employees. Ferner said the company is adding more college degrees and certificates to its Live Better You program, which covers tuition and fees for part- and full-time workers. It is also creating more high-paying roles at its auto care centers and recruiting employees to become truck drivers, a job that can pay up to $110,000 in the first year.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.