Home Depot to spend $1 billion to raise salaries and benefits, CEO announces

Home Depot announced Tuesday that it will spend $1 billion to increase pay and benefits for its hourly company, officials said.

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CEO Edward Decker did not say how much of a pay raise the average employee could receive, but that starting salaries will be at $15. The increase, he said, is an attempt to keep employees with the company.

“We hope to improve retention through this,” Decker said. “That’s why we call it an investment.”

“It’s going to improve the customer experience. If we take care of our associates, they take care of the customer and everything takes care of itself,” Decker told investors.

Hourly workers will see the increase, which went into effect on Feb. 6, this month in their paychecks, according to CNBC. The increase will boost pay for hourly workers in the U.S. and Canada.

Home Depot has around 475,000 workers, the majority are hourly workers. The home improvement chain has around 2,300 stores in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

According to CNN, is also creating new management positions on the stores’ floors.

The increased pay “is just one component of the associate investment story,” said Ann-Marie Campbell, Home Depot’s executive vice president, on the investor call. “The net result of all this (new management positions) is both an improved customer and associate experience while also creating new career paths for our associates.”