Sainsbury’s is to raise pay to at least £11 per hour for 127,000 of its workers in the UK.
The supermarket, considered the second largest by market share in the UK after Tesco, has held talks with shop workers’ union Usdaw, which said the February pay rise would make a “significant difference” to its members.
From February, hourly pay will rise from £10.25 to £11, and £11.30 to £11.95 in London for frontline Sainsbury’s and Argos workers.
The supermarket hiked hourly pay to the current levels only in October. It also raised pay in April 2022 to Real Living Wage levels having previously hiked rates in January 2022. It’s new pay rise demonstrates the need for retailers to attract in retain staff in the tight labour market.
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Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts said: “It’s our job to support our colleagues as they face rising costs. This is a massive investment that reflects the real challenges our people are facing right now.”
The pay boost will cost the supermarket £185m, on top of £20m Sainsbury’s agreed to in the October rises.
Usdaw national officer Dave Gill said: “With the cost of living continually rising, we have kept open our dialogue with Sainsbury’s, and we are pleased the business has responded so positively.”
Sainsbury’s move means it is broadly paying the same rates as Aldi, which is generally seen as offering the best hourly salary among supermarkets. It started paying workers at least £11 per hour from the beginning of January, and £12.45 within the M25. Aldi’s rival discounter Lidl pays £10.90 outside of London and £11.95 inside the M25.
Waitrose pays a minimum of £10.30 an hour outside London, and £11.50 for workers in it, with Asda paying staff £10.10 outside London, and £11.27 within London.
From April 2023, employers will have to pay workers who are over 23 years of age a minimum hourly rate of at least £10.42 per hour.
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While retail job vacancies have fallen from 169,000 in January 2022, between September and November there were still 148,000 vacancies, compared with 132,000 in the same period in 2019.
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