Wal-Mart rivals eye up $10-an-hour move

When Wal-Mart raises its minimum wage to $10 (€8.81) an hour next year, Target and other competitors are going to face a dilemma: Follow suit and jeopardise profits or risk losing their best workers.

Matching Wal-Mart’s $10 wage would cost some of the retail industry’s largest companies an extra $4bn over what they paid workers in 2014, according to an analysis by the Hay Group of 100 chains that employs 5m salespeople.

About 10% of companies are considering an increase to $10 an hour, with more likely to follow, said Craig Rowley, who runs the consulting firm’s retail practice.