Sam’s Club hiking minimum wage, accelerating increases for frontline employees
Sam’s Club is boosting the pay for starting hourly workers and its existing ones as it looks to stay competitive with other retailers.
The membership club division of Walmart is raising wages of its nearly 100,000 employees, with increases ranging from 3% to 6% based on years of service. In addition, Sam’s Club is raising starting wages for entry-level workers to $16 an hour.
With the new compensation investments, the average hourly rate for Sam’s Club employees is expected to be above $19, with the potential to earn “thousands of dollars” annually in bonuses, the retailer said. The company also noted that in the last five years alone, its average hourly wage has increased nearly 30%. (Costco Wholesale's minimum wage for U.S. workers to $19.50 per hour.) The new pay plan for Sam's frontline associates goes into effect Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.
“Until now, retail compensation has largely been about hourly wages, and it’s almost unheard of to talk about frontline associate compensation in terms of a predictable financial future — that changes for Sam’s Club starting today,” said Chris Nicholas, president and CEO of Sam’s Club, in a LinkedIn post. “As our associates invest their time, skills and knowledge in us, we’ve been investing in them and their families, creating a place of hope and opportunity through a multi-year journey that has the potential to transform lives. Our new approach is one step in a series of investments we’ve made in our people over the last several years, all designed to provide more meaningful jobs and build successful teams.”
In a release, Sam’s Club said its new compensation plan provides a roadmap for employees to plan and pursue more predictable, longer-term financial futures, and creates opportunities for associates to build better careers and lives with the company.
"Good jobs and fulfilling careers help ease the pressure many hourly associates face in balancing long-term personal finances with the responsibility to be brand ambassadors on the frontlines of customer experiences,” the company stated. “More engaged workers are more productive, provide better service and are more likely to stay, especially in retail, where turnover in 2022 averaged 60%.”
At Sam’s Club, three-in-four salaried managers began as hourly associates, and in the last five years, the number of hourly associates promoted to salaried positions has increased nearly 400%.
To ensure Sam’s Club creates the best shopping experience, the company said it has been on a multi-year journey to make it the best place to work by investing in wages and benefits, along with tools and technology to make employees’ lives easier. Since 2019, it has made more than a dozen unique wage investments — from starting pay increases to annual stock grants — that have benefited hourly and salaried associates across every level and area of the club.
Over the same period, the company said it has focused on career growth and creating more pathways of opportunity for associates by providing greater security, flexibility and convenience when and how they work. This includes:
- The implementation of block schedules for full-time associates to provide associates better work-life balance with consistent weekly schedules.
- An increase in full-time associates by 11% so even more associates can reach full 40-hour weeks.
- The introduction of new technology such as Me@Sams, an easy-to-use mobile app that allows associates to easily navigate their pay, discounts, learning opportunities and benefits – all in one place.
- The creation of workgroups to broaden departmental cross-training and simplifying the types of roles by more than 60%.
Sam’s Club has 600 clubs across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
