Target boosting minimum wage for 3rd time in 3 years

[TexasTowelie]

Target is boosting its minimum starting wage for the third time in as many years, distancing itself from rival Walmart in a tight labor market.

The cheap-chic retailer will move to $13 an hour in June, providing tens of thousands of workers a raise, the company said, without specifying exactly how many staffers would benefit. This follows $1-an-hour increases in recent years and brings Target closer to the goal it set in 2017 of reaching $15 an hour by the end of next year.

"Investing in our team members is essential to keep our business growing and thriving," Target Chief Human Resources Officer Melissa Kremer said in a company blog post.

The move is the latest salvo in an ongoing wage war between the nation's biggest retailers. The industry is the largest private-sector employer in the U.S., and competition for staff has intensified.

Read more: https://www.syracuse.com/business/2019/04/target-boosting-minimum-wage-for-3rd-time-in-3-years.html

[guillaumeb]

1. While this is a good step,

full time jobs with benefits would be better.

[at140]

2. Well said, part time without healthcare is like

kissing your sister.

[guillaumeb]

3. A friend works at WalMart

They raised he pay and cut her hours.

[at140]

6. Does Walmart provide any help with her healthcare?

[guillaumeb]

9. She said that the healthcare plan was expensive.

[at140]

10. Yeah right! Expensive we don't want to cover you!

When I retired from my employer in 1998, they covered me and my spouse both for life at same premium rates all employees paid, and covered the children until age 26. Note that was long before Obamacare became law.

[guillaumeb]

11. Another friend works at Costco.

He likes their plan, and it covers him and his wife.

[sfwriter]

4. Good on 'em

Walmart suuuucks bad.

[NacLeeFF]

5. Good for them, but we need a much higher federal, LIVING wage, not relying on employers' charity.

[at140]

7. You can't dictate higher wages without

the money to pay for them. Right now, top 10% richest got 85% of benefit from Trump's tax cut.
Unless taxes are raised on those, because they can afford higher taxes better than all others, the money will keep flowing from the lower 90% to the top 10%.

[guillaumeb]

12. Bezos has the money to pay higher wages. As does the Walton family.

They choose to not do so.

[at140]

13. Tax those uber rich much higher and then

give those tax breaks to small businesses.

[guillaumeb]

14. That might be a good start. eom

[Sherman A1]

8. Agreed but this isn't charity

It is driven by the need to compete for workers.