SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Costco is raising its minimum wage, CEO Craig Jelinek announced on Thursday.
The new starting minimum wage will raise by $1 to become $16, effective next week for locations across the U.S.
This marks a higher starting pay than Costco’s direct competitors: Amazon, Target and Best Buy all at $15.
“It’s important to us that Costco employees have an opportunity to make more than just $15, $16 an hour,” Jelinek went on to say during a Senate budget hearing.
He added that the wholesale company’s employees get regularly scheduled increases based on hours worked.
The CEO said the average wage for Costco hourly employees in the U.S. is around $24.
Meanwhile, Congress is battling over a provision in President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that includes raising the federal minimum wage to $15 within the next five years.
The package also includes a $1,400 stimulus check payment for Americans who fit certain requirements.
People making below $75,000 annually will get the total payment. Any higher, and the amount received lowers.