Verizon raises minimum wage for customer service, retail staff to $20/hour

Verizon is raising the minimum wage for customer service employees to $20 an hour as part of an effort to attract and retain talent. 

The increase covers all employees on minimum wage, including those in the wireless division, according to a spokesperson. For retail and inside sales employees, the hourly rate of $20 applies when base salary plus target commissions are combined, the company said on Monday.

Existing employees on any of these teams who currently receive less than $20 an hour will be raised to the new rate automatically. It’s also adding premium pay differentials for assistant managers who work on holidays, Sundays and for those who are bilingual.

“Our V Teamers give their best day in and day out to support our customers with all of their needs, which is why we want to make sure we support them as well,” said Krista Bourne, chief operating officer for Verizon Consumer Group, in a statement. “These changes are the direct result of employee feedback and will help us remain an attractive employer in this competitive environment.”

What rivals are doing

Last year, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert announced that his company was implementing a nationwide minimum wage of at least $20 an hour, regardless of full-time or part-time status.

At the time, Sievert said the “vast majority” of T-Mobile employees already earned well above that level, especially when including incentive pay, but the move was more about inclusion so that “no employee is left behind.”

Of course, T-Mobile is based in the Seattle area, where unionization efforts at Starbucks and Amazon have spread to locations across the country. 

Over at cable company Charter Communications, which sells mobile services by way of an MVNO deal with Verizon, it's also offering a minimum starting wage of $20 an hour. That was announced last month and includes target commissions for all employees across its 41-state service area.

In wireless at least, AT&T appears to be one-upping its rivals. 

“We are the only national wireless carrier with a fully unionized non-management workforce,” AT&T spokesman Jim Greer told Fierce in a statement. “Our full-time Mobility customer service employees earn an average of $26 an hour in total pay.”

Dealers dominate in stores 

Asked about Verizon’s announcement, Wave7 Research principal Jeff Moore, who closely follows the wireless retail space, said an estimated 80% of Verizon stores are dealer stores, so this increase likely doesn’t apply to most reps at Verizon stores.

That said, the wage increase will help attract and retain talent during pandemic times when employers are finding it hard to fill jobs. "We are seeing a shortage of labor, so this increase largely is in line with market conditions," he said. 

He also noted there’s a nascent move toward unionization at a few Verizon store locations, and it’s hard to say whether the $20/hour directive and the unionization move is a coincidence.

On Friday, employees at Verizon stores in Everett and Lynnwood in Washington state won their union election, making them the first unionized Verizon stores in the country outside of New York, the Daily Herald reported.

Workers voted to be represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which counts more than 700,000 members nationwide.