DEERFIELD, ILL. — Walgreens plans to increase the starting hourly wage for employees to $15 per hour. The wage increase will take effect in phases beginning in October of this year and is expected to be fully implemented by November 2022. The Deerfield-based company operates roughly 9,000 locations. The current starting wage at Walgreens is $10 per hour, but about half of its 190,000 hourly workers already earn at least $15 per hour, according to CNBC.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Walgreens has made additional investments in support of its employees such as bonus payments and a significant hiring initiative, through which the company added 25,000 full-time and part-time pharmacy team members. Walgreens has also accelerated implementation of remote and digitalized pharmacy resources.
Total investment to support the starting wage increase is anticipated to be roughly $450 million over the next three years, with one-third of the amount invested in fiscal-year 2022. The company anticipates that it will partially absorb the investment through the normal course of business. The stock price for Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) closed at $50.74 per share on Tuesday, Aug. 31, up from $36.76 per share one year ago.