Target is raising its starting salary for certain positions.
After implementing a $15 an hour minimum wage across all stores in 2020, the big-box retailer on Monday announced a new starting hourly wage range of $15 to $24 for hourly employees in stores, supply chain facilities and corporate headquarters. The wages will vary depending on job and location.
Target also announced a rollout of expanded health care and education benefits for employees. In total, Target’s announcement represents a $300 million investment in its team. Target has nearly 1,900 stores nationwide and employs over 350,000 workers.
“We continuously listen to our team members to understand what’s most important to them, then use the feedback to make investments that meet their needs across different career and life stages,” said Melissa Kremer, chief human resources officer at Target. “We want all team members to be better off for working at Target, and years of investments in our culture of care, meaningful pay, expanded health care benefits and opportunities for growth have been essential to helping our team members build rewarding careers.”
Target’s announcement comes as retailers across the country struggle to fill open jobs in offices and stores. Almost 4.3 million people quit their jobs in December at a rate of 2.9%. Some retailers have hiked pay and benefits in an attempt to attract and retain workers — perhaps as well as incentivize them to return to work amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Others have raised their wages as part of previously announced plans.
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For example, Macy’s announced in November that it would raise its minimum pay to $15 per hour and launch a tuition benefit program for all U.S.-based salaried and hourly employees. And Hobby Lobby is upping its pay to $18.50 an hour for full-time workers in 2022.
In 2017, Target made a commitment to increasing its minimum wage to $15 per hour by the end of 2020. The chain advanced its minimum wage to $11 that year and raised its starting hourly minimum to $13 in June 2019. During the pandemic, hourly workers received a temporary pay bump of $2 per hour.
Last week, Target became one of the first major retailers to eliminate its mask mandate for customers and employees, as states across the U.S. make similar moves.
