MILANO – The American job market is ‘rigid’, there are places that companies cannot fill and they have to compete to attract workers. Inflation bites, then, and this means that wages have to keep up. It is the bugbear of central banks, which fear the spiral of prices, but it is also a challenge for corporations. And it’s no coincidence that a giant like Apple is gearing up to tackle it by raising workers’ wages. The reasons? Those rebuilt since Wall Street Journal it is precisely the increase in inflation, the rigid labor market and trade union pressure especially among store workers who have hourly wages.
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The iPhone maker communicated this Wednesday to staff via email. There aren’t too many details, but it is certain that the overall compensation budget will go up. The starting wage for hourly workers in the United States will increase to $ 22 an hour, or more based on the market, a 45% increase from 2018.
Starting salaries in the United States are also expected to increase, as well as salaries outside the States but on this – adds the Financial Times – no further communications arrived. The increases will be brought forward to July, rather than to autumn as usual.
“Supporting and retaining the best employees in the world allows us to provide the best and most innovative products and services for our customers,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. “This year, as part of our annual performance review process, we are increasing our overall compensation budget.”
The struggle to attract and keep people isn’t just Apple’s. Microsoft also told workers this month that the company would nearly double its global budget for wage increases, based on performance and merit.