For the second time in a year, Target is boosting the minimum wage it pays its employees. The big-box retailer is bumping its base wage from $9 to $10 an hour in an effort to better compete in a tightening labor marketplace.
This is the second time Target has followed in Walmart’s footsteps by hiking its base pay, Reuters reports. Walmart started paying its workers a minimum of $9 an hour last April. It boosted its base pay to $10 an hour this spring.
Target quickly followed suit, boosting its minimum wage in April 2015 from $7.25 to $9 an hour. Its latest wage bump will be implemented in May.
Target also plans to raise wages for its workers who already earn more than $10 an hour. Those workers will be eligible for an annual merit raise as well as a pay-grade hike, sources told Reuters.
The discount retailer has been tight-lipped about the upcoming pay raise.
“We pay market competitive rates and regularly benchmark the marketplace to ensure that our compensation and benefits packages will help us to both recruit and retain great talent,” Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the competition for lower wage hourly workers is intensifying amid a strong labor market and a low jobless rate.
Meanwhile, a union-led push for a $15 minimum wage — coined the “Fight for 15” — is gaining steam across the United States. In 2015, 14 cities, counties and states approved $15 minimum wage laws.
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