Target Raises Hourly Wage to $15, Five Months Ahead of Schedule

On Sunday, Target’s starting wage hike of $15 per hour has begun. It first announced its intention to raise its minimum wage in September 2017. At that time, it raised its hourly pay from $10 to $11 in U.S. stores.

At the time, Target promised to raise its hourly wage to $15 per hour by the end of 2020.

“Beginning July 5, it will permanently raise its starting wage for U.S. team members to $15 per hour. Additionally, the company will give a one-time recognition bonus of $200 to its frontline store and distribution center hourly workers for their efforts throughout the coronavirus pandemic,” read a company statement posted in June.

“In the best of times, our team brings incredible energy and empathy to our work, and in harder times they bring those qualities plus extraordinary resilience and agility to keep Target on the forefront of meeting the changing needs of our guests and our business year after year,” Brian Cornell, Chairman and CEO of Target Corporation, also said.

“Everything we aspire to do and be as a company builds on the central role our team members play in our strategy, their dedication to our purpose and the connection they create with our guests and communities,” he then added.

Fox Business reported that the wage hike matches the “Fight For $15” campaign, “where retail workers are seeking what they call a livable hourly wage of $15 per hour.”

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Wages vary state-by-state.

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