A number of Target workers have been sharing their raises on social media, and commenters expressed their shock at how underwhelming they thought some of the hourly increases are. One employee of the popular American retailer only received a 9-cent pay bump.
According to a Target subreddit, where an employee called the raises “insulting,” merit increases are either calculated to be .05%, 1%, or 4% of a worker’s current hourly rate, which takes into account an employee’s performance.
Another Target employee, Kaitlin Sondae (@kaitlinsondae) says she received a 2% raise. Sondae says that she’s a five-year employee of Target who was making $15.61 per hour prior to receiving her pay bump. Now, she earns 31 cents more per hour. Meaning in a 40-hour workweek she’ll be bringing home an extra $12.40.
@kaitlinsondae Love ittt #gottaloveit #targetemployee #targetworker #retailworker ♬ original sound – Kaitlin Sondae
“OK so I work at Target. I’ve worked here for five years. We just did like the reviews, or whatever, so let’s how much I got for my raise,” Sondae says in the video. In the video, Sondae speaks in front of a green screen of what appears to be a sheet detailing the breakdown of her raise.
“So I was making $15.61. Now I make $15.92—it’s a 2% raise, and I got 31 cents,” Sondae says before letting out an unenthusiastic, sarcastic “Yay” while shaking her head.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Kaitlin and Target via email.
In February of 2022, it was reported that Target would be upping its minimum wage to as much as $24 an hour. At the rate $15ish per hour workers are apparently receiving raises—even if they receive a 4% boost on their base wage every April—it would take a considerable amount of time before they hit $24 per hour marker.
According to CBS8, the 2022 Target Press Release informing folks of the jump to $24 per hour wasn’t necessarily true for all employees as a standard minimum wage, but that it was a possible hourly rate the chain would give to its workers. “The exact starting wage within the range will depend on the job and the local market, with market-level wages set by the retailer based on industry benchmarking, local wage data and more,” Target said in its press release.
The same news outlet spoke with Adam Ryan, the founder of Target Workers Unite, an employee advocacy group, who said, “We know of no one in our network – including warehouse workers who are paid several dollars more than retail workers – that receives $24 an hour.” Ryan added that in his area of Christianburg, Virginia, Target employees typically earned $16 per hour, and that other markets started employees at the base $16/hr rate.
Lacey, Washington purportedly had job openings for “hourly warehouse operations” workers that started employees at $21.30 to $24.30 per hr.
One TikToker who saw Kaitlin’s post said that they made a higher starting wage after just beginning to work at Chipotle. “Dude I get paid $16.75 at chipotle and I just started 2weeks ago,” they wrote.
Another shared they “make $20.10 at amazon.”
However, there was another Target employee who said that they earned more at their respective location. “Interesting. I’m getting paid $18.50 at my target,” they wrote.
One viewer said that they were a former Target employee and the low wage increases ultimately influenced them to leave their position with the company in search of a better paying position. “That’s why I quit after being there 2 years. Now I’m getting paid 22.00 wfh,” they claimed.
