September 25, 2017
Starting in October, employees at Target stores will be compensated with an $11/hour minimum wage, up $1 from its previous standard set in April 2016.
The higher minimum wage comes with a promise, as the company announced it’s committed to increasing its minimum wage to $15 by 2020.
Target currently employs about 323,000 people nationwide, according to The Wall Street Journal, and is gearing up for hiring about 100,000 workers for the holiday season. The wage increase will apply to both new and current Target workers.
It also helps that Target has seen some better-than-expected sales growth this year, with shopper store visits and e-commerce both rising.
“Making this investment in our Target team will allow us to continue to recruit and retain strong team members to serve our guests,” Target CEO Brian Cornell said in a statement to media last week.
Cornell said the wage increase would affect thousands of workers.
The wage increase is a substantial win for labor advocates who wish to see new minimum wage standards set across the country. Pennsylvania’s current minimum wage is $7.25 – the federal minimum – while New Jersey’s ranges from $8 to $8.99.
Seven states plus Washington, D.C. have a minimum wage of $10 or more.
Prior to this new wage increase, Target most recently upped the wage to $10 shortly after Walmart had announced its own increase back in 2016 after many protests arguing that the corporation could afford a $15 minimum wage.
Petitions calling for the minimum wage to be increased at other major companies, including McDonald’s and Starbucks, have also been ongoing. Last year, the Fight for $15 movement took a downturn for McDonald’s employees, however, when the company began pushing for a kiosk-based ordering system that would negate the need for real-life employees in stores.
Last February, Target caught more attention by announcing a $7 billion plan to remodel its stores and update its online store over the next three years, in line with this new $15 minimum wage promise.
