http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/20/business/walmart-q4-earnings.html?_r=0Buffeted by a tightening job market, high employee turnover and scrutiny of its labor practices, Walmart, the largest private employer in the country, said on Thursday that it would increase wages for a half-million employees.
The retail giant, which for years has been the target of widespread criticism over its low pay structure and increasing reliance on part-time workers, said that all of its United States workers would earn at least $9 an hour by April.
While the company said about 40 percent of its work force, or 500,000 people including those at the wholesale Sam’s Club outlets, would be affected, many of those raises will amount to much less than a dollar an hour more. A mere 6,000 employees receive the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Its part-time force already earns an average wage of $9.48, and full-timers an average of $12.85.
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“Walmart has been in labor disputes for years now, and people have been waiting to see when the shoe is going to drop,” said Calvin Silva, retail analyst at Nasdaq. “They realized that they were seeing some of the highest turnover for employees compared to the rest of the industry.”
Walmart lags major retailers like Gap and Ikea, which have taken steps recently to set hourly wages at or above the $9 level, in an effort to reduce turnover and attract more lower-wage workers. Even those higher pay scales fall short of compensation offered by the likes of Costco, known to offer wages closer to $20 an hour, or the Container Store.
But Walmart’s move could force other major retailers like Target and Home Depot to follow suit. “Wage increases could be imminent for other companies,” said Oliver Chen, retail analyst at Cowen & Company in New York.