Yahoo Autos Target Raises Minimum Wage to $15/Hour, Gives Bonus to Hourly Employees Working amid COVID-19
Target is showing its appreciation for its employees, many of whom were on the frontlines during the coronavirus pandemic, by introducing a number of new benefits and salary updates.
On Wednesday, the company announced that it will permanently raise the minimum wage from $13 per hour to $15 per hour on July 5, and will provide a one-time recognition bonus of $200 to its store and distribution center hourly workers for working during the pandemic.
"In the best of times, our team brings incredible energy and empathy to our work, and in harder times they bring those qualities plus extraordinary resilience and agility to keep Target on the forefront of meeting the changing needs of our guests and our business year after year," Chairman and CEO of Target Corporation Brian Cornell said in a statement.
"Everything we aspire to do and be as a company builds on the central role our team members play in our strategy, their dedication to our purpose, and the connection they create with our guests and communities," Cornell added.
The $2 pay raise — which had been a 2020 goal of the company's since September 2017 — was first implemented in March as the coronavirus pandemic was hitting the United States, according to the press release. However, at that time, the $15 per hour starting salary was only temporary.
All hourly full-time and part-time employees working at Target's stores, distribution centers and headquarters will be eligible for the new minimum wage, which the company noted is more than 25 percent higher than the U.S. industry average.
