Podcast: Why Can’t Everyone Pay As Well As Costco?
Why can’t everyone pay as well as Costco?
The box-store giant has long paid higher wages than its competitors. During the pandemic, Loblaws (Atlantic Superstore), Walmart, and Sobeys all introduced “hero pay,” small bumps to the wages of frontline staff – increases that were recently rolled back. Huddle editor Mark Leger speaks with Dalhousie University business professor Deryk Stec about why higher pay is a permanent feature of Costco’s business model.
The two dig into Costco’s business model and its corporate philosophy, both of which contribute to higher wages and employee satisfaction and retention. Deryk also talks about the possibility of other big-box retailers making wage increases permanent for frontline workers.
“Other grocery firms, to some extent, take a more profit maximization mentality, you start thinking of employees as a cost and that’s a hard thing to change,” he says on the podcast.
Deryk and Mark also share their personal shopping habits. Deryk has been going to Costco for decades with Mark a more recent covert regularly stocking up on large bags of Starbucks coffee, avocados and packs of Beyond Burgers.
Mark also speaks with Halifax Huddle reporter Trevor Nichols about the “living wage” issue generally and his coverage of the local demonstration against the cuts to “hero pay.” They also continue their friendly feud about which city is better – Saint John or Halifax (or is it Dartmouth?).
The Huddle “Home Office” podcast, available on Spotify, Google Play, and Apple podcast platforms, features conversations with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia community leaders, entrepreneurs, analysts and Huddle reporters about the issues and events that accelerate and enrich the growth of the region’s economy and culture.