Target Employees to Receive $9 Minimum Wage Next Month
MINNEAPOLIS, March 18 (UPI) — The Minnesota-based retailer, which employs around 350,000 people across the country, said the wage increase will take effect in April, the Wall Street Journal reported. It will rise above the $10 mark within the next year, Target said.
The move follows a similar decision Target’s chief rival, Walmart, made last month. The Arkansas-based Walmart said its employees would begin earning at least $10 per hour by next year.
In addition to expanding the pocketbooks of its workers, Target’s move also indicates a more positive economic outlook, experts said. Joblessness is declining across the United States and the minimum wage issue signals competition among businesses for low wage earners.
Currently, the average retail wage in the United States is $17.33 per hour — which is up nearly 3 percent over the same time last year, federal labor officials say. Each state can determine its own minimum wage as long as it meets a level determined by the federal government — which was raised to $7.25 per hour in 2009.
Some Democrats have proposed hiking the federal minimum wage to more than $10 per hour, but those efforts have been challenged by congressional Republicans who question whether such a rise would help or hurt businesses — and, by extension, the domestic economy.
“Our goal is to always be competitive with the marketplace,” Target spokesperson Dustee Jenkins said.
Target said even before next month’s raise, it is already paying its employees more than the federal minimum at every one of its U.S. locations — particularly in places where the cost of living is higher.
Advocacy groups have recently criticized Target and urged it to raise wages. Last week, as part of a $2 billion cost-cutting measure, the retailer announced the layoffs of around 1,700 employees and eliminations of a further 1,400 positions.
Competitor TJX, which owns T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods has also announced a wage hike to $9 per hour in June.
Target is the nation’s second-largest discount retailer. Walmart, which employs about a half million workers, is first.
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