Wal-Mart said last week that it is giving employees at its distribution center in the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center a 75-cent-an-hour cost-of-living raise.
Order fillers now will make $15.25 an hour for weekday shifts and those working the weekend shifts, which are less than 40 hours, will be making $17.10 an hour.
Darius Pique, the center's general manager, said Wal-Mart also has waived a 90-day trial period for new workers, meaning they'll receive the new higher wage when they are hired.
Pique said Wal-Mart currently employs 750 at the distribution center and expects to reach 850 by May.
Just around the corner from the Wal-Mart facility, PetSmart is hiring the first 100 workers to open an 873,000-square-foot distribution facility in April. The company expects to employ 500 by the end of 2009.
PetSmart is paying $13.75 an hour for day shift workers and $15 for weekend shifts.
