Amidst the acute shortage of labour in the retail space in the US, Walmart has announced a raise of minimum one dollar in hourly pay for its 5,65,000 workers. This is the third time that Walmart has increased the pay in the last one year, bringing the average hourly pay to $16.40. This hike will come into effect from September 25.
Retailers are struggling to attract talent ahead of the holiday season with people unwilling to take up jobs that require face-to-face customer interaction amidst the COVID-19 scare. Most retailers have started offering higher starting pay to draw workers. While Walmart’s starting pay is $12, Target offers $15 and Costco offers $16!
The shortage of labour is so acute, especially in the fast food space, that many food outlets have been offering cash incentives to candidates to at least show up for the interviews. Quite recently, a branch of McDonald’s in Oregon, reportedly put up a banner inviting 14 to 15- year old teenagers to apply for jobs. The offer is in compliance with labour laws, and the franchise has actually received an encouraging response. Earlier, the outlet had raised the minimum wage to $15, but had failed to attract workers. However, ever since the vacancies have been opened to younger teenagers, more applications have come in.
McDonald’s has also announced that it will hike its workers’ hourly wages to an average of $15 per hour at all the Company-owned restaurants across the US.
