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Costco Increasing Wages of 130,000 U.S. Employees

Costco Increasing Wages of 130,000 U.S. Employees


All of Costco’s hourly employees are getting a pay rise thanks to U.S. federal corporate tax cuts that came into effect this year. On June 11th, Costco is raising its starting wage for its US employees by $1.00 per hour, to as high as $14.50/hour. Other wages are increasing between $0.25 and $0.50 per hour.

These pay increases are thanks to U.S. federal corporate tax cuts, and will go towards more than 130,000 employees around the US. The pay rises will cost Costco between $110 million and $120 million per annum before taxes,  Costco’s chief financial officer, Richard Galanti, said on Thursday during the company’s fiscal third quarter earnings report.

The retailer raked in $32.36 billion in revenue from sales and membership in the twelve weeks ending on May 13th. This is a 12 percent increase from the same period last year, and is the company’s fourth consecutive quarter of double-digits sales growth. The wage increases will help Costco offer its employees total compensation and competitive wages within the retail industry.

Not everyone at Costco is happy, though. One anonymous employee has said that “I would make a considerable amount more going back and gathering carts for the warehouse in the parking lot.” Approximately 90 percent of Costco’s employees are paid hourly, and earn $22.50 per hour on average. They also have access to health insurance, which Costco pays 90% of.