According to Wal-Mart CEO Douglas McMillon, the company is working towards upgrading all its workers who earn minimum wage, which amounts to approximately six thousand employees out of the estimated 1.3 million in the U.S. On average, the company pays its employees an hourly rate of $12.92 in the United States, compared to the federal minimum wage, which sits at $7.25.
Wal-Mart is the United States’ largest private employer and often deals with labour activists who argue that it does not pay its employees enough for them to live comfortably.
“…It is our intention over time that we will be in a situation where we don’t pay minimum wage at all,” McMillion said to reporters following an investor conference.
McMillon implied the company may also use promotions and bonus payments to give workers more opportunities, but did not give further details.
