Sainsbury’s injects £20m into boosting shop workers’ wages
Sainsbury’s has said it will boost pay for its shop workers in London to £11.20 per hour, as well as offering employees free food amid the cost of living crisis.
The supermarket said it was investing £25m into supporting its hourly paid workers, with some £20m being pumped into employees’ pay packets.
Employees at Sainsbury’s and Argos will see their pay boosted from £10.00 to £10.25 and from £11.05 to £11.30 per hour in London.
It is the first time the supermarket is pushing up pay in autumn outside of an annual pay review, representing a yearly increase of 7.9 per cent for hourly paid staff.
Pay increases will be introduced from 16 October, impacting some 127,000 workers who work at shops, fulfilment centres and customer service contact centres.
Sainsbury’s chief executive, Simon Roberts, said he was hearing from staff “every day” who were “really feeling the pressures of the rising cost of living.”
“Our top priority is to support our customers and colleagues,” he added.
“We are proud of our track record on colleague pay and, with this latest package of an additional pay rise, free food at work and bigger colleague discounts, we are very focused on doing as much as we can to help our colleagues and their families through this autumn and winter.”