Dallas-based Southwest Airlines are among North Texas companies raising their minimum wage to attract workers as the nation battles a labor shortage.
According to WFAA News, DFW-based companies, including Southwest Airlines, the Container Store, and Frito Lay, are raising their minimum wage to attract new workers and keep their current employees.
The Dallas-based airline giant recently increased its minimum wage to $15. The pay raise came into effect on August 1 and covered about 7,000 airport workers.
Greg Muccio, director of talent acquisition at Southwest, revealed that the airline giants have not been immune to the challenging labor market. The company is looking to hire 5,300 workers by the end of the year, with an additional 8,000 by 2022.
“We just looked across the board at those airport roles and decided that we wanted to give them all $15 an hour,” Muccio told WFAA News.
Muccio added that raising the minimum wage to $15 felt like the right thing to do for the Southwest family. Muccio said the nation’s minimum wage is heading that way, and the airline didn’t want to wait and react but instead chose to get ahead of it.
Per the report, Muccio revealed that the wage increase made it easier for the airline to get more employees and that the company is now 70% closer to achieving its hiring goal for 2021.
Muccio said he doesn’t think the country is out of its labor market crisis. He added that individuals who have chosen not to return to work or are “incredibly choosy” about jobs make the situation more challenging.