Target announced on Monday that it will adopt a minimum wage up to $24 an hour this year.
The Minneapolis-based discount retailer currently pays a universal starting wage of $15 an hour, with the highest pay going to hires in the most competitive markets. The announcement comes as a part of a company plan to spend an additional 300 million on its labor force this year, including investments in broader, faster access to health care coverage for its hourly workers.
“The market has changed," said Target CEO Brian Cornell in an interview with The Associated Press. ”We want to continue to have an industry-leading position.”
The retailer has roughly 1,900 stores and 350,000 employees in the U.S. The Associated Press reported that Target was able to exceed its goal of hiring 100,000 seasonal workers at its stores and 30,000 in its supply chain network across the country throughout the 2021 holiday season.
Despite this, the retailer said it is doing its analysis and declined to name the areas that will be getting the highest starting wage.
Before the pandemic, Target become one of the first in announcing it would pay $15 an hour by 2020. Many businesses followed Target’s path, some paying more than the Minneapolis-based discount retailer.
According to a recent survey of more than 100 major retailers with annual revenues between $500 million to more than $20 billion, 96% said they’re having trouble finding store employees.
Costco raised its minimum hourly wages for workers from $16 to $17 last fall and Amazon’s starting wage is $15 per hour, while its jobs in transportation and fulfillment is $18 an hour.
