Discount Chains Announce Significant Salary Increases

Aldi is raising wages for the fourth time in 24 months, the Hungarian subsidiary of the German discount chain announced on Tuesday. On the same day, SPAR also announced a pay increase, and it is likely that workers at Auchan will also receive higher wages, Index reports.

Aldi Hungary is striving to maintain or increase the real value of its wages, the Hungarian subsidiary of the German-based discount chain said in a statement on Tuesday. In order to achieve this, a new wage increase is being implemented from January 1, 2024, applying to almost all positions of the group’s 6,000 employees nationwide. The wage increase will amount to 12%.

The company noted that this is the fourth pay increase in 24 months, amounting to at least 38% altogether, and even more in some positions.

This will bring the starting salary

• for new physical workers in the department store to HUF 482,400 gross per month (EUR 1,268 / 1 EUR=380 HUF) for 8-hour contracts from January 1, 2024, and to HUF 500,900 gross after at least 12 months’ service. The highest salary available for this position is HUF 668,400 gross.
• for manual workers in the central warehouse-logistics area in Biatorbágy to HUF 534,300 gross. The highest available salary is HUF 643,600 gross.
• for store managers to HUF 906,500 gross. They can reach HUF 1,399,800 gross, depending on length of service.

The news portal recalls that Lidl Hungary’s latest wage increase from September 2023, included a 10 percent pay raise for store and warehouse workers.

This has resulted in a significant increase in basic wages for manual workers between 21 and 43% in the space of nine months.

At the time, Lidl Hungary announced that the average gross salary of store workers was between HUF 452,000 and HUF 587,000 for an eight-hour work week, while the average gross salary of store managers ranged between HUF 993,000 and HUF 1.217 million. Meanwhile, regional managers earned salaries ranging from HUF 970,000 gross to HUF 1.57 million.

Also on Tuesday, SPAR Hungary announced the salaries for the year 2024. The 13th month allowance, loyalty program, and 15% employee shopping discount will remain in place. The wage increase will be implemented again this year using only the company’s own resources.

SPAR has decided to introduce a new salary structure in the store network as of January 1, 2024,

as a result of which the basic salary of employees will increase by an average of 10-24%.

This means that the lowest basic wage available for employees in stores will be HUF 365,000 gross, while in flagship stores it will be HUF 435,000. Depending on the size, turnover, and business performance of the stores, the basic salary for middle managers in department stores will be in the range of HUF 420-950,000 gross.

Penny, the third discount chain in Hungary, announced an unexpectedly large pay raise during the 2023 wage negotiations, adds Index. As of April 1, 2023, the salaries of the largest number of department store workers at the discount chain, operating in Hungary since 1996, and employing almost 5,000 people, increased by 17%.

According to Index, a deal with the union at Auchan could be also reached in a few weeks. The French-backed supermarket chain, like SPAR, will start raising wages from January, while Tesco has a March to February financial year, thus the time for meaningful negotiations could come at the end of January or beginning of February.

Via Index, Featured image: Pixabay