Lidl Hikes Starting Pay in Atlanta to $15

In a move it says demonstrates a commitment to “industry-leading compensation” in a market where it has big ambitions to grow, Lidl U.S. said it was raising its starting pay for hourly associates in the metro Atlanta area to $15 per hour starting next month.

Lidl’s current starting rate is $12.50 per hour in that market, spokesman Will Harwood told WGB. The $15-per-hour rate is effective Feb. 8.

“Lidl is committed to offering our team members a market-leading wage and benefits package, and we are proud to raise the bar in Atlanta again to this effect,” said Tiffany Irving, director of HR for Lidl U.S. “Everywhere we operate, Lidl works to continuously improve the structures that support our team because we know that our team supports our communities. Raising the starting wage to $15 an hour across the Atlanta area is consistent with our approach, appropriate for the region, and right for our growing team.”

The announcement in Atlanta mirrors a similar move the retailer made in Long Island, N.Y., in 2019 to raise pay in advance of a planned store expansion. Since 2019, Lidl has opened 13 stores in the metro Atlanta region, including nine stores in the last year, and employs about 350 people. At least six other new sites are planned in the area, according to Planned Grocery data.

Lidl a year ago separately announced plans to invest $100 million to establish a regional headquarters and distribution center in Covington, Ga., to support growth there.

Lidl’s new starting wage for the Atlanta metro area is more than double the federal and state minimum wages of $7.25 and $5.15 per hour, respectively. According to figures published on Indeed.com, the new rates would also exceed the lowest starting wages of competitors in Georgia, such as Publix, Kroger and Walmart.

Hard discounters like Lidl, which get by on a limited-service, low-labor model and a flat job structure, tend to be able to offer higher starting rates than competitors in the space that require more employees and specialists.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Lidl had not had difficulty finding workers in Atlanta but Irving acknowledged the brand isn’t well-known there and so, “you have to make the compensation package a little more enticing for candidates.”

Lidl, a division of Germany’s Schwarz Group with U.S. headquarters in Arlington, Va., operates more than 125 U.S. stores.