Walmart (WMT) U.S. President and CEO John Furner said in a note to employees obtained by CNN Business that as of Sept. 25, associates working at the front of the store, food and merchandise units generally will get an increase of a minimum of one dollar per hour.
Furner noted in the note that this was the third such rise in the last twelve months,
“Over the past year, we have increased pay by approximately 1.2 million associates per hour in our stores in the United States, increasing our average hourly wage in the U.S. to $ 16.40,” Furner said. Walmart’s current average salary for associates is $ 15.25.
This puts Walmart workers ahead of many other retailers. Several, including the drugstore giant CVS (CVS), have raised the minimum wage to $ 15 per hour. There are growing calls among some members of Congress to turn the $ 15 minimum wage into a mandatory federal law.
President Biden has also recently announced plans to increase the pay of federal workers. And all of this comes at a time when many Americans need a higher wage to cope with rising food costs and other inflationary pressures.