Costco announced that it is raising its entry-level wage to $16 an hour, up a dollar from the basic wage of $15.
The company says that they are wanting to find the best people for positions, and they feel offering a higher wage will bring in more quality candidates.
CEO W. Craig Jelinek says the move will hopefully give the company a leg up over its competition.
“I want to note this isn’t altruism,” Jelinek is quoted by CNN as saying. “At Costco we know that paying employees good wages … 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.”
Costco competitors Amazon and Target have raised their basic wage to $15 an hour while Walmart still only offers $11 minimum wage, but has announced it is raising the pay to $15 to around 425,000 of its 1.5 million workers.
[adrotate banner=”23″]
The Biden Administration suffered a setback last week in its efforts to include raising the national minimum wage gradually to $15 by 2025. Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that the increase could not be added in Biden’s $1.9 trillion dollar stimulus package.
Local business owner Mark Weinberger says that his 45 employees already make more than the current minimum wage, which is $7.25, but he warns of unintended consequences.
“Everybody is talking about prices going up and companies like McDonalds giving the option of using a kiosk,” He says. “But what they aren’t talking about is the person already making $15 an hour, how does that make them feel? Since they already earn that wage, does the hike somehow devalue their work? So, should they get a raise too?”
Scott Hudson is the Editorial Page Editor of The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
[adrotate banner=”30″]
