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Walmart is boosting its minimum wage to $11. (Photo: Walmart)

Walmart is boosting the minimum hourly wage for its U.S. employees to $11 and dishing out bonuses of up to $1,000, crediting President Trump's tax cut for enabling the move.

The increase for the nation's largest private employer also comes amid political pressure to bolster minimum wages and comes amid a hot streak for the retailer.

The big-box store chain, which has more than 1 million U.S. hourly employees, will reap a windfall from the U.S. corporate tax rate cut to 21%, down from 35%.

“Today, we are building on investments we’ve been making in associates, in their wages and skills development,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement. “It’s our people who make the difference and we appreciate how they work hard to make every day easier for busy families.”

The move also comes amid a 17-year low for the U.S. unemployment rate, which has intensified competition for workers.

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More: Less than meets eye: Bonuses, not raises, from U.S. tax cut windfall

More: Sam's Club closing dozens of stores

McMillon said Trump's corporate tax cut "gives us the opportunity to be more competitive globally and to accelerate plans for the U.S.”

At the same time, Walmart confirmed Thursday that it is closing about 50 Sam's Club stores and converting another dozen or so into online fulfillment centers. Those closures suggest that the retail landscape remains extremely challenging for certain brands.

Walmart's wage-boost announcement follows a series of similar moves by major corporations that also credited the tax cut with bolstering their businesses.

For example, AT&T and Comcast dished out one-time bonuses of $1,000 to non-management workers, and Wells Fargo and Fifth Third Bancorp boosted base hourly pay to $15.

Economists have argued that one-time bonuses, while significant for workers living paycheck to paycheck, are not as meaningful as permanent wage increases. Critics of tax reform have said companies are dishing out bonuses for the sake of good publicity and to curry favor with the White House.

"Walmart would have had to go to at least $11 in many markets in order to retain reliable employees," University of Michigan business professor Erik Gordon said. "The tax cut made it easier for the company to swallow."

But, Gordon said, the move indicates that "the corporate tax cut's touted trickle-down effects that were met with skepticism by critics may be happening."

Charles Fishman, author of The Wal-Mart Effect, said the move shows that the retailer is betting on solid economic growth for the next two to three years. It also reflected a recognition that Walmart needed to "up its game to keep its employees and get new employees," he said.

"They’ve started to change the way they treat employees because they can’t take them for granted anymore," Fishman said.

Walmart's wage increase will take effect in February. The company said the one-time bonuses would cost the company $400 million and will be based on length of service. Employees who have worked for at least 20 years will get the full $1,000, but most will get up to a few hundred dollars.

The company is also boosting its paid maternity leave policy for full-time hourly workers to 10 weeks at full pay. Previously, mothers got six to eight weeks at half pay.

Walmart is also increasing its paid leave policy for new fathers, non-birthing mothers, adoptive parents and foster parents to six weeks at full pay for full-time hourly workers. Previously, the company didn't offer paid leave for them.

The changes in parental leave put salaried and hourly workers on the same footing.

Walmart also said it would offer financial help to full-time hourly and salaried employees who are seeking to adopt children.

The minimum wage increase comes about a year after Walmart hiked hourly pay to at least $10 for most workers. Twelve states already have minimum wages of at least $10, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

The wage increase comes as Walmart is on a roll. While many traditional retailers have been struggling to keep up with online behemoth Amazon, Walmart has fared better. Walmart's online business is surging.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2D1NQSQ</s>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Walmart will raise entry-level wages for U.S. hourly employees to $11 an hour in February as it benefits from last month’s major overhaul of the U.S. tax code and competes for low wage workers in a tight labor market.

But on the same day, the world’s largest retailer and private employer, officially called Wal-Mart Stores Inc, announced layoffs as it shuttered many of its Sam’s Club discount warehouse stores.

A senior company official who declined to be named said about 62 stores would be affected, about one tenth of the chain overall.

About 50 stores will be shut permanently after a review of store profitability and up to 12 more stores will be shut and reopened as e-commerce warehouses, the person said.

Every Sam’s Club store employs about 150 workers, bringing the total number of affected jobs to about 7,500, the person said. Many of them will be accommodated in new jobs at the newly opened warehouses and other stores, the official said.

Earlier on Thursday, Walmart announced the wage hike saying it would also offer a one-time cash bonus, based on length of service, of up to $1,000, and expand maternity and parental leave benefits.

The layoffs went unaddressed but the wage increase attracted praise from the White House.

“Walmart is the largest employer in the country and to see them make that kind of effort to over a million workers is a big deal... and I think further evidence that the tax reform and tax cut package are having the impact that we had hoped,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters on Thursday.

U.S. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin also praised Walmart’s decision to raise wages.

The timing of the store closure announcement hours after the wage hike drew some criticism.

“While pay raises are usually a good thing, this is nothing but another public relations stunt from Walmart to distract from the reality that they are laying off thousands of workers and the ones who remain will continue to receive low wages,” said activist Randy Parraz, director of Making Change at Walmart, a United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) affiliate.

The pay increase, Walmart’s third minimum wage increase since 2015, and bonus will benefit more than 1 million U.S. hourly workers, the company said.

The Walmart wage hike, taking minimum pay up from the current $10 an hour after in-house training, is aimed at helping the company attract workers at a time when the U.S. unemployment rate is at 4.1 percent, a 17-year low, making it harder to attract and retain minimum wage employees.

Walmart is likely to save billions of dollars from the new tax law, which slashed the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, and the wage hikes will cost the retailer only a fraction of those gains, analysts said.

“Given how low unemployment is, they would have had to hike wages anyway, the tax bill just made that move easier,” said Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarborough.

Rival retailer Target Corp raised its minimum wage to $11 in September, and said it would raise its minimum wage to $15 by 2020.

Walmart and Target’s new minimum wage levels exceed the state minimum wage, in all but three states, according to a research note from financial services firm BTIG. Eighteen U.S. states increased their minimum wage on Jan.1 but the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009.

Walmart’s announcement follows companies like AT&T Inc, Wells Fargo & Co and Boeing Co, which have all promised more pay for workers since the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress passed the biggest overhaul to the U.S. tax code in 30 years.

Shares of Walmart closed up 0.3 percent at $100.02.</s>NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on Walmart's decision to boost starting salaries for U.S. workers while also closing dozens of Sam's Club stores around the country (all times local):

A Walmart official says the company is closing 63 Sam's Club stores across the country. About 10 of those stores will be repurposed into e-commerce distribution sites.

The official said at least eight stores closed Thursday and the rest would shutter in the coming weeks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the decision publicly.

The closures came on the same day that Walmart announced it would boost its starting salary for U.S. workers to $11 an hour and hand out one-time cash bonuses.

The Walmart official said it would too soon to know how many jobs would be eliminated with the Sam's Club closures. He said some employees would be re-hired at other Walmart locations or at the newly created e-commerce distribution sites.

Walmart is boosting its starting salary for U.S. workers to $11 an hour, giving a one-time $1,000 cash bonus to eligible employees and expanding its maternity and parental leave benefits.

The retailer said Thursday changes that to its compensation and benefits policy will impact more than a million hourly workers in the U.S., with the wage increase effective next month.

The company is also creating a new benefit to assist employees with adoption expenses.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Business Insider reports that 63 stores are closing and thousands of workers are being laid off. According to KTVA, this includes all of the Sam's Club stores in Alaska.

This news comes on the same day that Walmart, Sam Club's parent company, announced that it's raising the starting wage of employees to $11 an hour, expanding benefits, and offering bonuses of up to $1,000.

Shoppers concerned about the fate of their memberships are being directed to review their options here.</s>NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest on Walmart's decision to boost starting salaries for U.S. workers while also closing dozens of Sam's Club stores around the country (all times local):

A Walmart official says the company is closing 63 Sam's Club stores across the country. About 10 of those stores will be repurposed into e-commerce distribution sites.

In this Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, photo, Laila Ummelaila, a personal shopper at the Walmart store in Old Bridge, N.J., pushes a cart with bins as she shops for online shoppers. On Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018, Walmart announced it is boosting its starting salary for U.S. workers to $11 an hour, giving a one-time $1,000 cash bonus to eligible employees and expanding its maternity and parental leave benefits. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The official said at least eight stores closed Thursday and the rest would shutter in the coming weeks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the decision publicly.

The closures came on the same day that Walmart announced it would boost its starting salary for U.S. workers to $11 an hour and hand out one-time cash bonuses.

The Walmart official said it would too soon to know how many jobs would be eliminated with the Sam's Club closures. He said some employees would be re-hired at other Walmart locations or at the newly created e-commerce distribution sites.

Walmart is boosting its starting salary for U.S. workers to $11 an hour, giving a one-time $1,000 cash bonus to eligible employees and expanding its maternity and parental leave benefits.

The retailer said Thursday changes that to its compensation and benefits policy will impact more than a million hourly workers in the U.S., with the wage increase effective next month.

The company is also creating a new benefit to assist employees with adoption expenses.

FILE - In this June 5, 2017, file photo, a worker stacks merchandise outside a Walmart in Salem, N.H. Walmart is boosting its starting salary for U.S. workers to $11 an hour, giving a one-time $1,000 cash bonus to eligible employees and expanding its maternity and parental leave benefits. The retailer said Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018, changes to its compensation and benefits policy will impact more than a million hourly workers in the U.S., with the wage increase effective next month. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)</s>Walmart (Bentonville, Ark.) is in the process of closing 63 of Sam’s Club stores, according to Business Insider. Some of the stores reportedly shuttered unexpectedly yesterday without previous notice, and the remaining are expected to officially close in the coming weeks. Additionally, 10 of the stores slated to close will be converted to e-commerce fulfillment centers.

The company issued a statement on Twitter that it was closing stores to “better align our locations with our strategy.” These stores were located too close to other Sam's Club stores or in areas that didn't grow as much as the company had anticipated.

The closures come on the same day that Walmart announced it was raising its minimum wage to $11 per hour.</s>A Walmart official says the company is closing 63 Sam’s Club stores across the country. About 10 of those stores will be repurposed into e-commerce distribution sites.

The official said at least eight stores closed Thursday and the rest would shutter in the coming weeks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the decision publicly.

The closures came on the same day that Walmart announced it would boost its starting salary for U.S. workers to $11 an hour and hand out one-time cash bonuses.

The Walmart official said it would too soon to know how many jobs would be eliminated with the Sam’s Club closures. He said some employees would be re-hired at other Walmart locations or at the newly created e-commerce distribution sites.

To sign up for free CityBusiness Daily Updates, click here.</s>
• Illinois will lose seven stores, the highest number of any state.
• The Memphis, Tennessee Sam's Club and nine additional stores will be turned into e-commerce distribution centers.



 Walmart is closing 63 Sam's Club stores and laying off thousands of employees across 24 states and Puerto Rico.

The company abruptly shut down some of the stores on Thursday. The remaining stores will close January 26.

The closures span 24 states and Puerto Rico. Sam's Club employs about 175 workers in each store, which means that more than 11,000 workers could be impacted by the closings. The company said it would provide severance to eligible employees.

Walmart will give employees the opportunity to reapply for jobs at 10 closing stores that will be turned into e-commerce distribution centers. The first store that will turned into a distribution center is located in Memphis, Tennessee.</s>Walmart is raising its minimum wage and handing out tax cut bonuses because of the new Republican tax law.

The retail company said the wage hike to $11 an hour would roll out in February. Employees are also getting a one-time bonus of up to $1,000.

Walmart (WMT) previously raised its minimum pay for most employees to $10 an hour in 2015. As of December, the average pay for full-time workers was $13 an hour.

"Today, we are building on investments we've been making in associates, in their wages and skills development," Walmart president and CEO Doug McMillon said in a news release. "It's our people who make the difference and we appreciate how they work hard to make every day easier for busy families."

He added that "tax reform gives us the opportunity to be more competitive globally and to accelerate plans for the U.S."

Walmart drew praise from the White House for the announcement.

Some Sam's Club stores are shutting their doors

On the same day, though, Sam's Club, the buy-in-bulk store owned by Walmart, said it was closing 53 locations and converting 10 to fulfillment centers.

The company didn't say how many jobs would be cut in all. In at least one state, Indiana, three stores will close and more than 400 people will lose their jobs, according to notices filed with state regulators.

The bonuses will be based on length of service, according to the company. Workers who've been there for at least 20 years will get the full $1,000. The bonuses will also apply to workers at the Sam's Club locations that did not close.

Because of the tax reform law, Walmart says it's also creating a new benefit to assist associates with adoption expenses. The benefit, which will be available to full-time hourly and salaried workers, will total $5,000 per child.

The company, the nation's largest private-sector employer, said it's also expanding its parental and maternity leave policy. Full-time hourly workers in the United States will get 10 weeks of paid maternity leave and six weeks of paid parental leave.

The changes affect more than 1 million hourly associates.

"Thanks to the passage of historic tax cuts, American workers and their families are winning!" tweeted Ivanka Trump, the White House senior adviser and daughter of President Trump.

"We want to thank them," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters Thursday afternoon. "Walmart is the latest company to make such an announcement, directly (a) result of the tax cuts act. and they join over 130 other companies across the nation who have already given such relief."

At the same news conference, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was asked whether the White House has talked to Walmart about a "safety net" for the Sam's Club employees.

"I'm not aware about a conversation about a specific safety net," Sanders said. "I can tell you that we're excited about the fact that they raised minimum wage."

McMillon also said the company is "early in the stages of assessing the opportunities" that tax reform creates for Walmart. The company said it will share further details when it releases quarterly results next month.</s>Walmart will close several Sam’s Club stores across the United States including the West Allis and Madison locations.

Both of those stores are closed today, will reopen tomorrow for liquidation sales, and then permanently close on Jan. 26.

Some Sam’s Club employees learned about the closures Wednesday, but most heard about it today, said a manager at the Franklin Sam’s Club store.

“This is all evolving as we speak,” the manager said.

The manager, who did not want to give his full name, said the store closures make sense, as Walmart does what is best for Sam’s Club members and employees.

“We are not Sears, we are not in trouble,” he said. “In Madison the store (7050 Watts Road) was too small for the needs of customers.

The West Allis store, located at 1540 S. 108th St., was a victim of the ongoing Zoo Interchange road construction project, which made it too difficult for many customers to get to, the manager said.

“We built a brand new beautiful store in Menomonee Falls, which is close to West Allis and many customers started going there,” he said.

Walmart and Sam’s Club officials could not immediately be reached for comment. On Twitter, Sam’s Club said: “After a thorough review of our existing portfolio, we’ve decided to close a series of clubs and better align our locations with our strategy. Closing clubs is never easy and we’re committed to working with impacted members and associates through this transition.”

Walmart also announced today it would increase its minimum hourly wage for its U.S. employees to $11 and give bonuses up to $1,000, crediting the tax cut approved by Congress and signed into law by President Trump.

“Financially, things are great,” the Franklin Sam’s Club store manager said. “We are just right-sizing our business. Thanks to the Trump tax cut, we are doing great things for our existing employees. Our first priority is taking care of our members.”
Walmart announces that it will increase the minimum wage for its U.S. employees to $11 per hour and close 50 Sam's Club stores.