On Tuesday, Chief Executive Officer of Bank of America, Brian Moynihan said that the bank was planning to raise the minimum hourly wage of its workers to $25 by 2025. The hourly wage at the bank is currently $20 which was fixed in 2020, from an earlier wage of $15 per hour. These figures were announced by the CEO in a recent interview with CNN. The increase from $15 to $20 were a result of four year pay increases. U.S. vendors who send their employees to the bank are expected to pay them at least $15 an hour or more.
Moynihan also told CNN that this step of increasing hourly wages would have a wage pressure up the line and added that they have absorbed it for many years. He said that the banks costs would increase by several hundred million dollars each year. He added that the raise in pay would increase loyalty and benefit the shareholders in the future.
In a separate statement he said that Bank of America had 43,000 employees who were provided to the bank by 2,000 vendors and suppliers. He said that 99 percent met the minimum wage threshold of $15 per hour.
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A minimum wage of $15 per hour throughout the nation, had been advocated by President Biden and the Democrats but received minimal support from the Republicans in Congress, so it is only available for federal workers as per an executive order signed by him.
Sheri Bronstein, chief human resources officer of the Charlotte, North Carolina based bank, said that a core tenet of responsible growth was the bank’s commitment to being a great place to work and for that they needed to invest in the people who served their clients. She said that their investments included “strong pay and competitive benefits” that would help these employees and their families and also to attract and retain “the best talent.”
Moynihan told CNN, “The key is for big companies like ours, is to set a standard.”
As the U.S. economy is picking up after its slowdown due to the pandemic, some companies in diverse fields including retail giants, ride-hailing apps and fast-food chains have found that they have to woo back employees by offering higher wages and incentives compared to those that were disbursed to them before the pandemic.
Lawmakers and labor activists have been trying to get some form of equity for low-level or entry level hourly wage workers. Finally, there is some improvement as for once companies are looking for workers and are offering better incentives when compared to pre-pandemic times.
