When it comes to retail jobs, the days of earning an hourly wage that's a joke for a person to actually live on are fast becoming a distant memory.
Sure, if you want to stay in those dark ages, you can go work for one of the companies that seem to want to stay there. We won't name names, but you know who they are.
While Covid brought many unwelcome changes to the world around us, one it encouraged was long overdue anyway.
Paying employees what their work is worth is becoming ever more critical to retail companies. The Great Resignation movement, which led millions of people to leave unfulfilling jobs in 2021 and this year, and the moves retailers have made to retain their workforce prove it is an ongoing issue.
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Target Pay and Benefits Are Raising the Status Quo
Monday Target ((TGT)) - Get Target Corporation Report announced that it would raise its starting hourly salary range from the $15 it set in 2017 to a range that goes up to $24.
The change applies to a wide range of the company's employees, from team members in its stores to those working in supply chain facilities.
Or, the TL;DR version: You can now make more than $46,000 a year working at Target.
Do Other Retailers Pay Well as Target?
While Target pay and benefits are certainly leading the pack now that the company's announced the new hourly wage range, it isn't the only retailer keeping its pay standards competitive.
Costco also reigns supreme at the top of the retail pay scale, starting its workers out at $17 an hour and the option to join a union.
However, CEO Craig Jelinak says that more than half of Costco's workforce are "paid at the top of our scales, in excess of $25 an hour."
And that's on top of a 401K match, a generous leave plan for new moms and dads, and two free Costco memberships.
Others in the higher paying companies in that tier include Hobby Lobby, Ulta (ULTA) - Get Ulta Beauty Inc Report, CVS (CVS) - Get CVS Health Corporation Report, and Walmart (WMT) - Get Walmart Inc. Report.
But Target's latest move is sure to cause a chain reaction among other retailers, which just might slow the onslaught of memes that retail workers create to cope with the paycheck-to-paycheck life.
Target Remains Anti-Union, Employees Say
Another part of Target's strategy here may also be to further deter its employees to consider unionizing, as the retailer has assumed an anti-union stance as far back as 2014.
In January 2022, a company communication intended for members of management was leaked on Target Workers Unite that instructs managers to look out for "subtle signs of dissatisfaction" in their employees.
Other competitors in the retail space, such as Costco (COST) - Get Costco Wholesale Corporation Report, have taken the opposite stance, supporting unionization among their employees.
Workers at both Starbucks and Amazon have managed to win the right to begin voting for unions at stores in those chains, and have even had the National Labor Relations Board intervene on their behalf.
Target's voluntary wage raising could be another part of its push to attract workers looking for a wage they can survive on without finding another, separate job.
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Target's Strategy is a Much Bigger Picture
Already one of the top-paying retailers before the change, Target also boosted its health care plans to include medical coverage for part-time employees working 25 hours a week or more, access to said care three to nine months sooner, and virtual physical therapy at no cost.
Melissa Kremer, chief human resources officer for Target, says that the change comes after listening to employee feedback about getting their needs met at work.
“We want all team members to be better off for working at Target, and years of investments in our culture of care, meaningful pay, expanded health care benefits and opportunities for growth have been essential to helping our team members build rewarding careers," she said.
While it's admirable that Target pay and benefits are improving, the company is also making other proactive moves, such as its recent announcement of adding returns and Starbucks drink deliveries to its Curbside Pickup service, which is sure to garner favor from its customer base.
It's also working to compete with Amazon's deathgrip on the same-day delivery market, partnering its Shipt service with Walgreens and 7-Eleven to offer a massive selection of items that can be delivered in as little as an hour.
That means your random craving for a Whatchamacallit at 11 pm on a Tuesday may soon be satisfied without you having to lift a finger.
Considering that Amazon's Prime Now service doesn't always have open slots for same-day deliveries depending on time of day, Target could make a killing here, especially if the service has more delivery availability.
