Under Armour is the latest retailer to increase its minimum hourly pay, from $10 to $15 ($15.25 Canadian in Canada), as it seeks to fill more than 3,000 open positions in the two countries. The pay boost, taking effect June 6, 2021, will impact 8,000 part-time and full-time employees, approximately 90% of Under Armour’s store and fulfillment center workforce. The 3,000 open jobs, some of which are seasonal, include sales and stock positions as well as store managers, and the $15 minimum will apply to all of them.
“Teammates in our retail stores and distribution houses are our strongest asset and we needed to make a strategic decision on our hourly wages to be a competitive employer in the retail space,” said Stephanie Pugliese, President of the Americas at Under Armour in a statement. “We’re delighted to be able to raise our minimum pay rate and acknowledge the hard work of our frontline teammates in retail and warehouse, particularly over the past year.”
The pandemic-fueled ecommerce boom in 2020 put fulfillment roles at a premium, and this year retailers expect brick-and-mortar store traffic will climb as vaccination rates improve. Some of the nation’s largest retailers already have boosted pay rates for hourly workers as they grapple with labor shortages, including:
- Target boosted its minimum pay rate to $15 per hour in July 2020;
- Walmart increased pay for approximately 11% of its associates in September 2020;
- Wayfair increased its minimum wage to $15 per hour in January 2021;
- Costco announced it was raising its minimum wage to $16 per hour in February 2021; and
- Amazon recently announced plans to hire 75,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada with an average starting pay of $17 per hour.
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