As the war for talents heats up, Macy’s is implementing new compensation benefits for employees.
The company is raising its minimum pay to $15 per hour and launching a tuition benefit program for all U.S.-based salaried and hourly employees. Macy’s is also offering corporate and hourly employees an additional paid holiday. Macy’s announced earlier that it will remain closed on Thanksgiving this year for the second year in a row.
Once Macy’s completes its goal of achieving a $15 minimum wage nationally by May 2022, average base pay will be more than $17 an hour, the company said.
The move comes as the department store looks to add 76,000 roles across stores, warehouses, call centers and more in advance of the holiday shopping season. Like other retailers, Macy’s has been holding hiring events and offering higher wages to attract enough workers to meet consumer demand this season amid a general worker shortage.
“As we continue our transformation to be a digitally led omnichannel retailer, a critical component of our growth includes investing in our talent and enhancing all aspects of their Macy’s, Inc. experience with a strong focus on advancement opportunities, culture and engagement. As a company, we’re driven by our mission to enable our colleagues’ success and be the preferred employer everywhere we do business, with competitive pay and benefits rooted in principles of equity,” said Danielle Kirgan, chief transformation and human resources officer at Macy’s, Inc. “This program removes a major barrier to accessing education and will help our colleagues to further develop their skills and grow their careers and earning potential.”
Macy’s said it will invest about $35 million over the next four years to a new debt-free education benefit program for workers that will cover books and fees, as well as tuition for courses in high school completion, college, English language, and professional certificates. The program, which launches in February 2022, was built through a partnership with educational platform Guild Education.
Like other retailers, Macy’s has felt the sting of a general retail labor shortage. Altogether, Walmart, Kohl’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lululemon, Target, Belk, Nordstrom, and Macy’s Inc. have announced hiring goals that collectively total over 500,000 jobs across stores, warehouses, and call centers.
Other retailers are offering incentives and higher starting wages to entice candidates as well: At Kohl’s, hourly store, distribution center and e-commerce fulfillment center employees who work through the holidays will be eligible for a bonus of between $100 and $400. Amazon, meanwhile, bumped its average starting wage to more than $18 per hour to meet its goal of hiring 125,000 fulfillment and transportation employees, with some warehouses offering a $3,000 sign-on bonus.
