Walmart announced in a press release Wednesday that, starting Feb. 20, every Walmart and Sam's Club employee hired before Jan.1, 2016, will earn at least $10 per hour, in what the retail giant calls "the largest single-day, private-sector pay increases ever."
This marks the second round of pay increases in Walmart's plan to to boost wages that it announced last year. The first round came last April when it boosted the pay of 500,000 employees to at least $9 per hour. Through that boost, average hourly rates allegedly averaged $13 per hour for full-time workers and $10 per hour for part-timers.
Now, the company says February's boost is forecasted to further increase the averages to $13.38 and $10.58, respectively.
Walmart said the two-year plan will cost $2.7 billion, putting a dent in its bottom line, but will also serve to benefit employees, which in turn boosts customer service and sales, according to Fortune.
"We are committed to investing in our associates and to continuing to simplify our business. When we do so, there is no limit to what our associates can accomplish," said Judith McKenna, chief operating officer for Walmart U.S. "Our customers and associates are noticing a difference. We're seeing strong increases in both customer experience and associate engagement scores. Five straight quarters of positive comps in our U.S. business is just one example of how helping our associates grow and succeed helps the company do the same."
Despite these changes, Making Change at Walmart, a group lobbying the retailer for better working conditions, said the pay raises are nothing but a publicity stunt.
"Walmart greed knows no bounds. They just closed hundreds of stores, destroyed thousands of jobs, and devastated countless small communities, but now they are trying to convince America they're giving our workers a raise? After Walmart's last wage increase stunt, many workers almost immediately saw their hours cut and take-home pay go down," reads the statement, referencing Walmart's recent announcement that it will close 269 stores worldwide, including 154 in the U.S.
"It's easier to find a unicorn than a Walmart worker who has received a meaningful raise or hasn't had their hours cut. You want to know the real impact of Walmart? Ask the communities and workers whose stores are closing. Or, even better, ask the workers who are still waiting for the last raise," the statement concluded.
