Cost of living crisis: Lidl becomes latest retailer to announce second pay rise

Lidl has on Thursday announced a rise in hourly rates for the second time this year in response to the cost of living crisis.

The retailer follows Marks and Sepencer, which announced a second pay raise for staff on Wednesday. Fellow discounter Aldi and other major supermarkets have also raised wages recently in measures to tackle the crisis.

Lidl said it would become the highest paying supermarket, with entry-level hourly rates increasing from £10.10 to £10.90 outside of London and £11.30 to £11.95 within the M25, with staff earning up to £12.00 and £13.00 respectively.

The raise means that 40 per cent of hourly-paid staff will earn £12.00 an hour as a result of their length of service, with a full time staff earning around £2,000 more a year.

The new pay rates, which will benefit over 23,500 staff, will come into force next on 1 October and represents an increase of between 10-14.5 per cent since this time last year.

The £39.5 million investment in hourly pay rates is Lidl’s highest ever, and equates to a combined investment of £50m in less than eight months.

Lidl said the second increase to pay rates this year recognises the ongoing hard work and dedication of store and warehouse staff, particularly as the cost-of-living crisis continues.

“We have introduced these rate increases to reflect the key role and tireless efforts of our incredible colleagues working in our 935 stores and 13 warehouses,” Ryan McDonnell, Lidl GB chief executive, commente.

“The role that we as a discounter play in giving households access to good, affordable food cannot be underestimated, now more than ever. But the ongoing commitment and dedication of our colleagues in making it all possible for our customers cannot be underestimated either – our business simply would not run without them.”

Following this week’s announcement, over 40,000 M&S staff will see their hourly pay increased to a minimum of £10.20 from 1 October, which follows an initial pay increase to £10.00 (from £9.50) in April this year.

Earlier this month, Sainsbury’s said its 127,000 hourly paid workers would get a 25p an hour increase to £10.25 from October, with the rate for staff in London stores increasing from £11.05 to £11.30.

Aldi implemented a second pay raise in September giving its 26,000 store assistants a minimum of £10.50 an hour nationally and £11.95 in London – rises of 4 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively.

Tesco have also increased pay twice for workers in the past year. Asda raised its pay to £10.10 an hour in July.