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Target Boosts Wages and Delivers Bonuses to Rank-and-File

Target Boosts Wages and Delivers Bonuses to Rank-and-File Staff

(Bloomberg) -- Target Corp. is boosting hourly wages, expanding its paid-leave policy and delivering bonuses to thousands of store employees, the latest move by a major retailer to reward rank-and-file staff for coping with the coronavirus.

The cheap-chic retailer said it’s raising hourly pay by $2 until at least May 2, and offering paid sick leave of up to 30 days for staffers who are 65 or older, pregnant or have underlying medical conditions. It’s also doling out bonuses ranging from $250 to $1,500 for 20,000 hourly workers who oversee store departments like beauty or food and beverage. The company said it will hire more people as needed.

The moves come just hours after rival Walmart Inc. said it would hire 150,000 additional staff and disperse bonuses of as much as $300 to its hourly associates. The world’s largest retailer has stopped short of boosting its hourly wages, which start at $11, compared with the $13 Target had offered before Friday’s increase. Target had promised to move to $15 an hour by the end of this year. Amazon.com Inc., meanwhile, is hiring 100,000 additional warehouse staff and paying them $2 more per hour through April.

The nation’s big retailers had spent the past two years one-upping one another with improvements to pay and benefits to cope with a tight labor market, but now workers are no longer in short supply due to mass layoffs hitting the retail, restaurant and hospitality industries as communities and businesses shut down to prevent the virus from spreading.

Traditional supermarkets are also boosting pay and looking for workers -- Safeway, owned by Albertsons Cos., will raise its hourly wage by $2 for at least the next two weeks and possibly longer. Kroger Co. has said it’s seeking workers for positions in its stores, manufacturing plants and distribution centers.

Target said its pay hike will allow part-time and full-time employees to earn as much as $480 more, on average, during the period of additional pay. It follows the company’s earlier move to expand backup care, temporarily waive its absenteeism policy and cover the pay of those who are quarantined or have confirmed illnesses.

The latest measures are “simply the right thing to do,” Chief Executive Officer Brian Cornell said in a statement Friday.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.