Walmart Temporarily Increases Basic Salary Citing Order Increase

United States based retailer Walmart Inc.  (WMT) has announced it will be temporarily increasing the minimum wage of its employees in its e-commerce warehouse by $2 to so as to compensate them for a shopping hike caused by the outbreak of coronavirus which is forcing a lot of household to buy and hoard basic necessities since quarantines and lock downs are becoming order of the day.

Following the increase, the company’s employees working in the warehouses and the e-fulfillment centers will now be earning between $15 and $19 an hour. The increase will take effect immediately on Monday 23 and its set to run all the way through till the Memorial day, May 25, 2019.

Over buying by customers caused by coronavirus panic has forced the world’s largest retailer to keep filling its shelves each now and then while also filling endless online orders.

The company has a labor force of 1.5 million employees in the United States, and it said that it will be paying $550 million to hourly staff. Additionally, the company will hire 150,000 temporary workers between now and May in its fulfillment centers and stores.

Nonetheless, wages for starting workers at the company’s stores will remain constant at $11 per hour bringing the average wage among full time hourly workers to $14.26.

Last week Walmart also announced it had contacted employees in the hotel industry who have lost their jobs recently due to the coronavirus offering them job opportunities for the temporary jobs.

The new employees have been directed to report to work 24 hours after they have been hired. Walmart’s employees who refers a new worker to the company and they get hired will receive a $250 cash bonus.

Walmars seems to have taken this move after its industry’s competitors adapted similar measures too.

E-commerce giant Amazon Inc. (AMZN) increased its entry wages by $2 to $17 further announcing plans to temporarily hire 100,000 employees as delivery and warehouse workers across entire United States.