Costco Will Make Its Minimum Wage $16 An Hour Starting Next Week

Kristin Salaky
·2 min read
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From Delish

Costco announced this week that it will be bumping up its minimum pay for all U.S. employees to $16 an hour, an increase of a dollar.

In a Senate panel hearing Thursday, Costco's President and CEO Craig Jelinek explained that the chain implemented the $15 minimum wage at all of its U.S. stores two years ago and that it will be increasing that to $16 as of next week. He said that the chain is "committed to paying employees very competitive retail wages and providing them broad and affordable health care benefits."

He went on to say that there has been a lot of attention on starting and minimum wages but that Costco employees "receive regular, scheduled increases based on their hours worked" and that employees working full-time and part-time hours will generally see at least one wage increase through the year. He said that more than half of the company's hourly employees are paid at the top of its pay scale, which is more than $25 an hour.

Jelinek also explained that these benefits were "not altruism," but simply good business, noting the company's high retention rates: "At Costco, we know that paying employees good wages and providing affordable benefits makes sense for our business and constitutes a significant competitive advantage for us. It helps us in the long run by minimizing turnover and maximizing employee productivity, commitment and loyalty. We encourage our employees to view Costco as providing a career rather than just a job."

Labor rights activists have been calling for a $15 minimum wage for years. Target implemented a $15 minimum wage last July and Amazon did so in 2018. Starbucks announced its intention last December to have a $15 minimum wage across its company within the next few years, noting that more than 30 percent of its U.S. retail workers are currently at or above $15 an hour. At the beginning of 2021, 27 cities and counties across the U.S. raised their minimum wage to $15 or above.

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