Morrisons raises pay as stores battle for staff

Morrisons is raising pay for its store workers as UK supermarkets battle for staff amidst increasing competition in the sector.

It will pay staff a minimum of £10.20 an hour, which the firm said made it the highest paying UK supermarket.

Morrisons said the offer would mean a pay increase for 80,000 of its staff across the country.

Rival chains Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda have also announced pay rises for their workers this year.

Morrisons also said that the minimum wage for London staff - covering all stores within the M25 - would be £11.05 an hour, the same rate as the voluntary London Living Wage.

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The new deal is due to start in October, subject to the offer being approved by staff.

Clare Grainger, group people director at Morrisons, said: "We're very pleased to be maintaining our position as the highest paying UK national supermarket."

UK job vacancies hit record levels after the economy reopened from Covid lockdowns as employers scrambled to meet demand, which has led to a battle to recruit and retain staff.

"The majority of businesses in almost every field are finding recruitment very difficult," said Richard Hyman, a partner at retail consultancy TPC.

"[A wage rise] might give Morrisons an advantage in the recruitment market for a short while but how retailers handle rising costs and how they share the pain with their customers will play a central role in determining how they will emerge from this tough economy."

Last month, official figures showed that there were fewer unemployed people than job vacancies for the first time since records began.

In March, Sainsbury's announced an increase in its pay rates, but it was subsequently forced to raise the pay for all of its workers in London following pressure from shareholders.

Tesco announced in April that it was raising its minimum pay to £10.10 an hour from the end of July, bringing it in line with Lidl and Aldi, which had previously been the UK's highest-paying supermarkets with the same hourly rate.