Home Depot has recently announced that they are increasing the starting pay of their employees to a rewarding $15 an hour, which will come into effect this month. What a great initiative!

The DIY-focused home improvement chain recently made a huge announcement of investing $1 billion to give pay raises to their employees across 2,000 U.S. and 182 Canadian stores. This is truly amazing and will provide an immense boost to their workforce!

The decision comes roughly one month after Home Depot revised its compensation policy to pay hourly associates to the nearest minute based on workers’ precise time punches — a move that was largely welcomed by the company’s employees.

The pay raise becomes effective in February 2023!

With the U.S. job market being so competitive and unemployment reaching its lowest level since 1969, large retailers have had to increase workers’ wages to attract more employees. This is great news for those seeking employment, as it provides them with better opportunities.

Home improvement retailer Lowes made headlines in August when they allocated $55 million for “inflation bonuses” for all their hourly workers. Walmart further added to the positive news by raising its minimum wage to an impressive $14 across all of its U.S. stores!

Home Depot employs more than 400,000 employees, many of whom collect hourly wages.

Ted Decker, President, Chairman, and CEO at Home Depot emphasized how this investment will make it easier for us to bring in and retain talented people into our organization. He shared his thoughts on this through an email sent to all employees.

Pay raises are an effective way to prevent unionization campaigns, which have grown in popularity amongst retailers due to the ever-growing inflation and tightening job market.

Last September, Home Depot employees in Philadelphia took a stand and attempted to unionize. Their main reasoning was that they weren’t able to benefit from the soar in sales the store experienced during the pandemic. They were looking to make a positive change and make sure their hard work was being rewarded adequately!

But workers at the Philadelphia store shot down the proposal in November in an election that workers said was dogged by managers’ surveillance and coercion.

Home Depot has seen a massive surge in sales over the last year; people stuck at home have been busy either renovating their existing space or looking for larger ones. It’s no wonder then that this global leader in home improvement retail has become so popular with shoppers and investors alike.

Home Depot posted mixed numbers for its fourth-quarter earnings, which it reported on Tuesday. The company experienced tremendous success during the final quarter of 2022 when it recorded a profit of $3.36 billion – that’s 3 cents higher than what Wall Street had predicted. This fantastic news was uncovered by Zacks Investment Research through their survey of analysts.

Despite this, the quarterly sales amounted to $35.83 billion- a figure that did not meet expectations.

Young Workers Want Higher Wages

Despite the federal minimum wage standing at its same rate of $7.25 for over a decade, numerous retailers such as Walmart and Home Depot pay employees competitive wages.

An impressive 71% of the surveyed demographics expressed their approval for raising the minimum wage in a recent NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll. This suggestion is widely supported and definitely worth considering!

Support was lowest among the oldest Greatest Generation, with just 56% believing a hike is a good idea.

Younger consumers are driving the ongoing push to raise the federal minimum wage in the U.S., according to a new NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll.

An impressive 64% of Americans surveyed supported the idea of increasing the national hourly minimum wage to $15. This is a 10% increase from the 54% that was recorded in 2019 and Democrats strongly support it, with 86% voting for it.

The majority of Republicans (60%) oppose it, however, support among the party increased to 36% this year from 27% in 2019.

As predicted, Gen Z and millennials are huge supporters of raising the minimum wage. Their shared opinion is overwhelmingly in favor; an impressive 71% believe it’s a great idea while only 29% oppose it.

Different age groups had varying opinions on the issue – The majority of Gen X (60%), Baby Boomers (62%), and the Greatest Generation (56%) were in favor of raising the minimum wage.

Despite the federal minimum wage staying put for an astounding 10+ years, many retailers have seen the need to increase their minimum wages beyond what’s legally required. This is a big deal in light of last year’s record inflation!

Home Depot recently announced that they are investing a whopping $1 billion to increase their minimum wage to the amazing amount of $15 an hour! This change has already been implemented this month and it’s a great move for their dedicated hourly employees.

Last year, Lowe’s made a huge commitment of $55 million in bonuses to their hourly employees to account for rising prices.

Good news for Walmart associates – earlier this year, the retail giant announced that they’re raising their average hourly wage to $14 and that pay is expected to reach $17.50 per hour by March. This major increase in salary was revealed in a letter from CEO John Furner to employees.

Target in 2022 raised wages for hourly employees, Retail Leader reported. The retailer enacted a starting range, paying employees between $15 and $24 an hour. It came after it made the increase to $15 in 2017.

Kroger, the largest supermarket operator in the U.S., is making a huge investment of $350 million to raise average hourly pay to an impressive $16 per hour for its employees in 2021. This is a great move that will benefit many people!

Last year, CVS Health made a bold decision to raise the minimum hourly wage for all workers to an amazing $15/hour. This already benefitted 65% of their employees who were earning above the minimum wage.

Ikea also upped the ante this year by significantly raising the minimum wage to $16 across the board. Some job roles and positions in certain locations are even starting at an impressive $17 or $18 per hour! And with that, they now offer an average hourly wage of $20 – making it even more attractive to work there.