“Approximately 500,000 full-time and part-time associates at Walmart US stores and Sam's Clubs will receive pay raises in the first half of the current fiscal year,” the Walmart statement read. “Current and future associates will benefit from this initiative, which ensures that Walmart hourly associates earn at least $1.75 above today's federal minimum wage, or $9.00 per hour, in April.”
Starting in February 2016, Walmart said that current employees would earn up to $10 per hour. Additionally, the retail giant said it would invest $100 million over five years to help increase the “economic mobility” of its entry level employees by partnering with foundations, employers, community colleges and non-profit organizations.
The $1.75 in employees’ hourly wage increase will cost the company over $1 billion in 2015 alone, according to Walmart.
“By realigning our store operational structure, associates can enjoy a closer relationship with their supervisors,” Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. president and CEO Doug McMillon said in the statement on Thursday. “In addition, associates will have more control over their schedules. The investment in these initiatives is more than $1 billion for this fiscal year."
The current federal minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 per hour. Many US states including New York have opted to increase wages above the federal minimum wage to as high $13 per hour.
In 2013, about 1.5 million hourly workers in the United States earned the federal minimum wage, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
