Dive Brief:
- Bank of America announced May 18 it will raise its minimum wage to $25 per hour by 2025; it also announced that all its contracted U.S. vendors are now required to pay their employees affiliated with the bank $15 per hour, as well.
- The bank raised its minimum wage to $20 in March of last year, one year ahead of its original schedule, the company said.
- "A core tenet of responsible growth is our commitment to being a great place to work which means investing in the people who serve our clients," Sheri Bronstein, chief human resources officer at Bank of America, said in a statement. "That includes providing strong pay and competitive benefits to help them and their families, so that we continue to attract and retain the best talent."
Dive Insight:
While the coronavirus pandemic derailed compensation plans for many employers, the complex state of the talent market has pressed some to make changes to stay competitive.
Costco, for example, announced in March that it would up its hourly minimum wage to $16 while phasing out a $2 per hour pay bump that had been enacted during the pandemic — part of a plan to keep retention high, the company’s CEO said during a U.S. Senate Budget Committee hearing. Retail talent acquisition has been especially slammed during the pandemic as demand skyrocketed.
The state of the talent market is complicated — both overwhelming in number of applicants, according to some surveys, and lacking in the right people with the right skills, others say. According to iCIMS, a recruiting platform, 91% of respondents to its survey said they were hiring for new roles in 2021. But recruiting and hiring remain a top concern for HR leaders, according to a November survey by XpertHR. Upping compensation and benefits is but one way to keep workers on board.
Raising minimum wages could also help companies stay ahead of a wave of minimum wage increases across the country. 2021 alone brought wage hikes in more than 50 states and localities.