Target to Pay More Than $70 Million in Bonuses to Hourly Employees Ahead of Holidays

KEY POINTS

  • Target stated it will invest more than $70 million on another round of employee bonus offers during the coronavirus pandemic.
  • The retailer will pay $200 to its more than 350,000 workers who work at stores, circulation centers, and contact centers, according to a post on its corporate site.
  • The business increased its minimum wage to $15 in early July.

Target stated Monday that it will invest more than $70 million on another round of worker benefits throughout the coronavirus pandemic, as the vacation shopping season gets.

The retailer will pay $200 to its more than 350,000 workers who work at shops, circulation centers, and contact centers, according to a post on its corporate site. It will pay the benefits by early November.

Grocers and big-box sellers, including Walmart, Amazon, and Kroger, briefly increased pay and provided bonus offers to per hour workers early in the pandemic. The “hero pay” was meant to recognize workers who helped the business renew racks during weeks of stockpiling and put their health at threat.

Retail employees across the country have gotten ill and passed away from Covid-19 throughout the worldwide health crisis. Amazon, for instance, stated previously this month that more than 19,000 of its employees have contracted the virus this year.

Many merchants have ended that additional pay, however a minimum of two have announced bonus offers: Lowe’s and Target. Lowe’s provided an extra $100 million in bonuses to per hour employees this month– $300 to full-time workers and $150 to part-time and seasonal hourly workers.

These benefits come as daily brand-new Covid-19 cases are rising once again in the U.S., and approaching the third peak. Public health authorities have alerted that cases might increase as temperature levels get chillier and people invest more time inside your home.

Target has given other bonuses throughout the pandemic. It paid perks ranging from $250 to $1,500 to 20,000 team leads who supervised shop departments in April. It supplied $200 benefits to all full-time and part-time hourly workers in July. And it offered performance bonus offers, which ranged in size, to keep directors, executive group leaders, and salaried distribution center leaders in July.

The business likewise temporarily raised its salaries by $2 an hour in March as coronavirus cases rose. As it phased out those temporary salaries, it sped along strategies to increase its base pay to $15 an hour in early July.

Consisting of the most recent round of rewards, Target stated it’s spent nearly $1 billion more this year on worker pay, consisting of pandemic-related advantages like backup childcare and its permanent minimum wage increase to $15 an hour.

Target has been one of the merchants that have seen substantial gains throughout the pandemic. It blew away Wall Street with its big financial second-quarter earnings, setting a record for same-store sales and seeing profits skyrocket by more than 80% to $1.7 billion. Its curbside pickup service, Increase, grew by more than 700% in the 2nd quarter from a year earlier.