COSTCO TOPS RIVALS BY BOOSTING MINIMUM WAGE TO US$16 PER HOUR

Costco Wholesale Corp is raising the minimum wage for its hourly staff to US$16 next week, a dollar more than what its competitors Amazon.com Inc and Target

Corp pay per hour. The membership-only retailer’s move comes as U.S. President Joe Biden plans to raise the minimum wage to US$15 per hour by 2025, and a week after Walmart Inc raised its hourly wage to an average of US$15. Costco CEO Craig Jelinek made the announcement at a U.S. Senate Budget Committee hearing on worker wages at large companies. “We want people to stay with us,” Jelinek said. Costco has seen sales boom during the pandemic.