TOTAL REWARD
Costco becomes an employer of choice
Costco employees enjoy some of the most generous wages and benefits among US retailers. A recent issue of Workforce Management finds out how the strategy has paid off.
Since opening its first retail warehouse in Seattle in 1983, Costco has grown to 451 locations in the United States and abroad and has seen its workforce soar to 110,000. Hourly pay starts at $10 and goes up to $18.03. Costco workers earn an average of $16.72 an hour, far outstripping the US retail industry average of $10.99.
"In addition to offering some of the best wages and benefits in the retail industry, Costco rewards employees with bonuses and other incentives," says Michelle V. Rafter, the report's author. "It promotes from within, encourages workers to make suggestions and to air grievance and gives managers autonomy to experiment with their departments or stores to boost sales or shave expenses as they see fit."
Want to know more?
Title: "Welcome to the club", by Michelle V. Rafter, Workforce Management, April 2005.
Availability: Workforce Management magazine is published monthly. For subscription services, tel: 001 313 446 0450 (USA: 888 448 1422). Contact the online editor Todd Raphael for more information, email: raphaelt@workforce.com.
You will need to register to use Workforce online, but it's free. Visit www.workforce.com.
Take a look at the article online -- see what you think www.workforce.com/section/02/feature/24/00/24/index.html
Posted 3 May 2005