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Walmart will be raising its minimum wage for hourly employees at all U.S. stores next month to better compete with starting pay rates.
Starting in early March, hourly workers for the retail behemoth can expect to see their wages raise from $14 to $19 an hour, increasing from the previous $12 to $18 per hour. Walmart spokesperson Anne Hatfield confirmed the change to USA Today. As many as 340,000 employees could feel the impact of the wage increase.
The increase comes after top Walmart competitor Amazon raised its average starting pay for front-line workers from $18 to $19 per hour last October. Amazon still has a company minimum wage of $15 per hour.
Walmart president and CEO John Furner also said in a note to employees that the company will make “targeted investments in starting rates for thousands of stores, to ensure we have attractive pay in the markets we operate.
