A Major Bank Is Upping Pay to $25 an Hour — And Amazon Is Coming Close Too
Big-name companies have recently announced big-time pay increases. Here’s when it all goes into effect.
Key Takeaways
- Bank of America is increasing its minimum wage to $25 an hour in October, up from $15 an hour in 2017.
- The change means that the minimum annual salary for full-time U.S. employees will reach over $50,000.
- Amazon is also raising pay to an average of more than $23 per hour.
A major U.S. bank, with over $2.6 billion in assets, just raised its minimum wage.
Bank of America announced on Wednesday that it would raise its minimum pay for its full- and part-time U.S. hourly workers to $25 an hour. The change will take effect next month, pushing the minimum salary for full-time U.S. employees to over $50,000 annually.
This pay increase is the final phase of a plan announced in 2017 to boost the bank’s base pay from $15 an hour to $25 an hour by 2025. (Employees have been making $24 an hour since October 2024.) With the raise to $25 an hour, the starting salary for full-time U.S. workers will have increased by more than $20,000 since 2017.
“[The raise] gives a teammate a chance to join our company, spend their whole career here, and support their families,” Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan told Bloomberg.
Moynihan emphasized that the higher minimum wage minimized turnover, causing the rate of departing employees to drop from 20% in 2017 to around 10% this year. Customer attrition, or a loss of customers, has also dropped, he stated.
As Bank of America adopts new technologies like AI, it has reduced its number of employees across some departments, Moynihan told Bloomberg. The goal is to put more dollars in the pockets of the employees who remain and “re-skilling them,” he said.
Bank of America had about 213,000 employees as of July, according to its newsroom.
Related: Here’s What’s Considered ‘Middle Income’ in the U.S. Today, According to Bank of America Data
Amazon Is Raising Pay
Amazon also announced this week that it would increase its average hourly pay to more than $23 per hour. The retail giant is investing more than $1 billion to increase wages and decrease the cost of healthcare plans for its employees.
Full-time employees will have their pay increase by an average of $1,600 per year.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s entry-level healthcare plan will cost $5 per week and $5 for co-pays beginning next year. Amazon stated that the change is a 34% reduction in weekly contribution costs.
Amazon employed 1.55 million people globally as of the end of last year.
Related: Amazon Tells Thousands of Employees to Relocate or Resign
Key Takeaways
- Bank of America is increasing its minimum wage to $25 an hour in October, up from $15 an hour in 2017.
- The change means that the minimum annual salary for full-time U.S. employees will reach over $50,000.
- Amazon is also raising pay to an average of more than $23 per hour.
A major U.S. bank, with over $2.6 billion in assets, just raised its minimum wage.
Bank of America announced on Wednesday that it would raise its minimum pay for its full- and part-time U.S. hourly workers to $25 an hour. The change will take effect next month, pushing the minimum salary for full-time U.S. employees to over $50,000 annually.
The rest of this article is locked.
Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.
Subscribe Now
Already have an account? Sign In
