US companies commit to increase wage hikes for workers [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Several companies in the US have expressed intention to hike wages in a bid to attract workers.
• The rate of the hourly salary increase is around $15.
• The low employment rate in the country was likely attributed to the enhanced unemployment benefits.

The US economy is currently struggling with a labor shortage amid the increasing COVID-19 vaccinations and loosening of safety measures. With this, several companies had to hike wages just to entice job applicants.

In recent weeks, prominent companies and other corporations amplified salary offerings with additional incentives to invite job hunters.

Under Armour announced Wednesday that it would boost its minimum wage of $15 per hour across all 8,000 hourly workers and C$ 15.25 for Canadian employees.

“We are committed to doing the right thing, and at the center of our commitment is ensuring our teammates feel valued and appreciated,” Under Armour CEO Patrik Frisk said in a statement. The company is set to implement the increase beginning June 6.

Bank of America said Tuesday that it would increase its minimum wage to $26 per hour by 2025, per company’s CEO Brian Moynihan.

In previous years, the company implemented wage hike for at least twice and was successful in rolling it out.

Meanwhile, the Golden Arches also made a similar announcement, saying that it would increase its hourly wages for over 36,000 workers “by an average of 10 percent” across its 660 restaurants in the country.

“These increases, which have already begun, will be rolled out over the next several months and include shifting the entry level range for crew to at least $11-$17 an hour,” the fast food chain said in a statement.

The increase, though, would not apply to the fast food crews of over 13,000 branches nationwide.

Chipotle announced that it would also increase its hourly rate to $15 for its restaurant employees. It would also provide employee referral incentives for workers, for every hired restaurant worker ($200) and general manager ($750).

On the other hand, Amazon said that it would employ about 75,000 workers that would be deployed in the field of fulfillment and transportation, with an average of $17 hourly rate.

Jeff Bezos’ company boasted of having sign-in benefits of up to $1,000, aside from other perks such as health insurance, educational assistance and paid leaves.

In the last year, several big-time retailers like Best Buy, Costco, Signet and Starbucks have also expressed their intent to implement wage hikes of at least $15 per hour.

While the nation is gradually recovering from the effects of the pandemic, last month’s lethargic employment rate was likely blamed on the enhanced benefits among the unemployed Americans. In this regard, several states such as Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, and South Carolina abolished the federal unemployment benefits.

According to senior US economist for Capital Economics Michael Pearce, unemployment rate is up by 6.1 percent.

Source: AOL.com