Target is now increasing starting wages to $24 an hour

Giant retailer Target will increase its starting wages up to $24 an hour for most employees. Target announced on Monday that it is raising wages in some positions. It will cover the hourly workers at its supply chain facilities, discount stores, and headquarters.

While Target has settled its minimum wage to be $15 in 2020, it will remain the same. However, some workers will be qualified for a higher standard rate based on their position. Also, the current competitive wages in the local market are a big factor.

Target, which employs 350,000 people, said that starting wages will jump from $15 to $24 per hour. They also said they’re reducing the required minimum average working hours per week to qualify for healthcare benefits. It will be lessened from 30 to 25. According to Target, nearly 20% of its workforce is newly eligible for benefits.

With this new plan, workers who work an average of 25 hours a week will enroll in the company’s medical plan. Target will also shorten the waiting time for eligible hourly workers to enroll in the medical plan. Based on the position, employees will now get comprehensive healthcare benefits three to nine months earlier. Workers will also be eligible to access 401(k) plans quicker.

With over 1,900 US stores, Target said the raise in starting wages is part of their plan. The plan allows an additional $300 million for the labor force. Thus, that investment also involves extending the healthcare benefits access for hourly workers. This will take effect in April.

Target’s Chief Human Resources officer Melissa Kremer spoke in a statement. “We continuously listen to our team members to understand what’s most important to them, then use the feedback to make investments that meet their needs across different career and life stages.”

She added, “We want all team members to be better off working at Target. And years of investments in our culture care, meaningful pay, expanded health benefits, and growth opportunities have been essential to helping our team members build rewarding careers.”

These changes were to keep up with the wage increase of other restaurant chains and retail stores. Moving from a $15 an hour minimum rate.

Amazon started it when they increased their minimum salary wage to $15 last 2018. Walmart also joined the game-changing salary increases. In September, the largest US retailer announced that the workers who handle the front end of the store, food, and general merchandise sectors would get a dollar an hour increase from the usual $12 rate. At the same time, Best Buy hiked its minimum to $15 in 2020.

The continuous workforce shortage is also one of the factors that Target considered. Due to the pandemic crisis, companies struggle to keep and hire more workers.