{"id":105574,"date":"2025-03-07T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=105574"},"modified":"2025-03-07T08:30:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T08:30:13","slug":"marks-spencer-raise-wages-retail-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/marks-spencer-raise-wages-retail-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Marks & Spencer to Raise Wages for Thousands of Retail Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Marks & Spencer has announced a 5% pay rise for approximately 50,000 retail employees, effective from April 1. The company is set to invest \u00a395 million in this pay increase, marking a significant move as the national living wage rises in the UK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to The Independent<\/a><\/em>, this decision comes at a time when the retailer is navigating increasing operational costs linked to recent government policy changes. While M&S aims to support its workforce, the broader implications of these rising expenses remain to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pay Rise Details<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The hourly rate for in-store customer assistants will increase from \u00a312 to \u00a312.60<\/strong>, while those working in London will see their pay rise from \u00a313.15 to \u00a313.85<\/strong>. For team support managers, the hourly rate will increase from \u00a313.05 to \u00a313.65<\/strong>, with London-based managers receiving an increase from \u00a314.20 to \u00a314.90<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Investment in Retail Workforce<\/h2>\n\n\n\nMarks & Spencer\u2019s chief executive, Stuart Machin<\/a>, emphasised that despite facing significant cost pressures due to the government\u2019s recent budget changes, the company remains committed to investing in its employees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the past three years, M&S has invested nearly \u00a3300 million<\/strong> in pay increases, outpacing inflation rates. Machin commented,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
Following the Government\u2019s recent increases in tax and national insurance contributions, it\u2019s no secret that M&S and indeed the entire retail sector has some significant cost headwinds to face into in the new financial year.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
This reflects the challenges the company faces, especially with a \u00a3120 million<\/strong> additional cost burden this year due to the rise in the national living wage<\/strong> and national insurance contributions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Impact of Government Changes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Machin acknowledged that the business is facing significant cost pressures<\/strong>, particularly from an increase in national insurance contributions and the national minimum wage rise, which will cost M&S an additional \u00a3120 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company expects \u00a360 million<\/strong> of this to come from the rise in national insurance contributions and another \u00a360 million from the 6.7% increase in the national minimum wage. However, M&S has committed to shielding its customers from these rising costs by avoiding price increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Industry-Wide Trend<\/h2>\n\n\n\nM&S\u2019s move follows similar actions by other retailers like Sainsbury\u2019s and Lidl<\/a>, which have also raised wages for their retail workers. These pay hikes are seen as a response to both the increasing cost of living and the government’s wage adjustments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, M&S has been one of the winners of recent consumer spending trends, with \u00a3962 million<\/strong> spent on Valentine’s Day, a 10.8%<\/strong> increase compared to last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to the pay rise, M&S staff will continue to receive benefits such as a market-leading 20%<\/strong> colleague discount, which can be combined with other offers to provide a total potential hourly value of up to \u00a315.40<\/strong>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Marks & Spencer is increasing wages for thousands of employees starting in April, with a significant investment in its workforce. The move comes amid rising costs and economic shifts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":105575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employment","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105574"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105587,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105574\/revisions\/105587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}