Bank of America boosts US minimum hourly wage to $24

By Lananh Nguyen and Niket Nishant

(Reuters) - Bank of America has raised its minimum hourly wage in the United States to $24, it said on Tuesday.

The move brings the bank closer to its plan to reach a $25 minimum hourly wage by 2025, as it aims to attract and retain talent in a competitive job market.

The second-largest U.S. lender has significantly increased its minimum hourly pay, raising it by 60% over the past seven years. The company was most recently paying a minimum wage of $23 per hour.

Companies vying for talent in a competitive labor market are enhancing compensation packages to attract and retain skilled employees, ensuring that top performers remain within the organization.

Financial heavyweights are facing a new challenge in the form of the rising popularity of technology jobs, which are seen as the primary beneficiaries of the AI boom.

The pull of AI is now influencing the career decisions of students. One in five 2024 graduates in the U.S. is more inclined to pursue a job that offers opportunities to work with generative AI, according to a report from the online recruitment platform Handshake.

"Providing a competitive minimum wage is core to being a great place to work, and I am proud that Bank of America is leading by example," said Sheri Bronstein, the bank's chief human resources officer.

Full-time employees in the U.S. will now have a minimum annualized salary of $50,000, up from $48,000, the bank said.

Back in 2021, Bank of America had pledged to raise its minimum hourly wage to $25 by 2025.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru and Lananh Nguyen in New York; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)