As the company moves further into wellness products and services, Walgreens is increasing the starting hourly wage for all employees to $15 an hour, an initiative that will take effect in phases beginning in October of this year and concluding November 1, 2022.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Walgreens has made additional investments in support of its team members, including bonus payments and a significant hiring initiative, the company stated. It has brought on 25,000 full-time and part-time pharmacy employees while also accelerating the implementation of remote and digitalized pharmacy resources to enable pharmacists to spend more time with patients. As a consequence, Walgreens is relying on store employees to deliver quality service and care to customers and patients, the company noted.
Walgreens expects the total investment to support the starting wage increase to be about $450 million over the next three years, with one-third of the amount invested in fiscal 2022. The company anticipates absorbing the investment, at least partially, through the normal course of business.
“I am extremely proud and grateful of the work our team members are doing across our 9,000 Walgreens locations serving our customers, patients and communities each and every day,” said Roz Brewer, CEO, Walgreens Boots Alliance, in announcing the wage increase. “Investing in and rewarding our team members is not only the right thing to do, but it’s also highly important to retaining and attracting a talented workforce, and to continuing to serve our critical role in community health care.”
