Home Depot announced on Tuesday that it will put $1 billion towards increasing the wages of its hourly workers based in the United States and Canada. The rise is expected to be implemented this month, with starting pay being at least $15 per hour.
“This investment will help us attract and retain the best talent into our pipeline,” Home Depot’s Chairman, President and CEO Ted Decker stated in an email to employees following the decision. Decker added that 90% of Home Depot’s current store leadership were hourly workers at one point.
Many view Home Depot’s pay rise as a strategy to halt the campaign to unionize its stores. Last September, workers at a Home Depot branch in Philadelphia filed to hold a union election, claiming that workers were not reaping the rewards of the company’s rising sales, adding that stores were understaffed. The workers ultimately voted to reject the union.
Home Depot’s workforce consists of 437,000 people in the United States and 34,000 in Canada. Currently, there are 2,000 U.S. locations and 182 stores in Canada. According to the company, the majority of its employees are hourly employees.