Home Depot said Tuesday it’s investing $1 billion in wage increases for its U.S. and Canadian hourly workers.
The Atlanta-based home improvement chain said every hourly employee will get a raise starting this month. Starting pay will be at least $15 per hour in all markets.
Home Depot is one of many big retailers who have raised pay to attract workers in a strong U.S. job market, where unemployment is at its lowest level since 1969. Walmart announced in January that it would be raising its hourly wage to an average of $17.50, while Target invested $300 million in hourly wage increases last year.
The pay raises could also help Home Depot head off a fledgling campaign to unionize its stores, which it opposes. Workers at a Home Depot in Philadelphia filed to hold a union election last September, saying workers weren’t benefiting from Home Depot’s strong sales and stores were understaffed. Workers at the store voted to reject the union in November.
Home Depot employs 437,000 people in the U.S. and 34,000 in Canada. The vast majority are hourly employees, the company said. The company operates 2,000 stores in the U.S. and 182 stores in Canada.
“This investment will help us attract and retain the best talent into our pipeline,” Home Depot’s Chairman, President and CEO Ted Decker wrote in an email to employees. Decker noted that 90% of the chain’s store leadership started as hourly workers.
NBA champion Kendrick Perkins and Edly founder Chris Ricciardi discuss working together to create Nilly, a new platform where fans can invest in name, image, and likeness deals of their favorite college athletes.
Off the back of their latest earnings results, Hungryroot CEO Ben McKean discusses how the company is bringing healthy food straight to customers' doors and how it's using A.I.
Jack Ablin, Cresset Capital founding partner and CIO, breaks down the current market, from all eyes on Nvidia’s earnings to what sectors he’s seen deliver excellent returns.
Alberto Perlman, CEO of Zumba, shares what users can find on its new app, the demand for in-person fitness classes, and the secret to remaining a go-to exercise brand for decades.
Jamie Meyers, Senior Securities Analyst from Laffer Tengler Investments, discusses why he believes the rally will widen to small cap stocks and how the latest economic data is impacting his strategy.