Walgreens Bumps Pay to $15 Amid Acute Worker Shortage in U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. will boost the starting wage for its U.S. employees to $15 an hour, becoming the latest retailer to sweeten compensation amid a hiring crunch. 

The company will start gradually increasing pay in October and expects to fully implement the new rate by November 2022. The Deerfield, Illinois-based company operates about 9,000 drugstores across the U.S. 

Rewarding employees is “highly important to retaining and attracting a talented workforce, and to continuing to serve our critical role in community health care,” Walgreens Chief Executive Officer Rosalind Brewer said in a statement. 

Walgreens follows U.S. retailers such as Target Corp., Best Buy Co Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., which have increased wages in recent years in order to stand out in a competitive job market. Walgreens’ main competitor, CVS Health Corp., earlier this summer announced it would bump starting pay to $15 an hour by July 2022. 

The wage increase will cost Walgreens about $450 million over the next three years. Walgreens expects to partially absorb the expense through the normal course of business. 

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