Costco’s minimum wage increased to $16…will it spread to the industry?

[아시아경제 조유진 기자] CNN reported on the 25th (local time) that US offline retailer Costco decided to raise its minimum wage to $16, the highest level in the industry, and whether it will have a ripple effect across the industry.

Craig Jelinek Costco President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) attended the Senate Budget Committee on the 25th (local time) and announced that he would raise the minimum wage to $16 starting next week. This is higher than President Joe Biden’s minimum wage of $15 per hour.

Costco, the second-largest U.S. offline retailer, raised the industry average by raising its minimum wage to $15 last year. Costco employs 180,000 people in the United States alone, of which 90% are part-time workers.

The increased minimum wage for Costco is Wal-Mart, Amazon, Target, Best Buy, etc. Other distribution companiesIt is symbolic in that it is all high. Retailers have recently voluntarily raised the minimum wage, but no company pays $15 an hour. Experts predict that the decision by Costco, the US’s second-largest offline retailer, could have an impact on other companies pushing for a minimum wage increase.

“Costco’s move could be an opportunity to pressure competitors like Wal-Mart and Amazon to set their minimum wage to $16,” said Arindragit Duve, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. There is also a growing expectation that the US government’s efforts to boost the economy will be sparked if the domino increase in the minimum wage continues in the distribution industry with a high employment rate.

The movement to raise the minimum wage in the United States is an atmosphere of preliminary speech. Wal-Mart, the largest private employer in the United States, announced on the 18th that it would keep the minimum wage at $11 but raise the average wage to more than $15.

Reporter Jo Yu-jin [email protected]

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