Costco is offering an additional $2 an hour to its hourly employees across the US as the coronavirus outbreak causes massive shopping surges

• Costco is paying its employees an extra $2 an hour for their work during the coronavirus outbreak.
• In an email sent to all US employees and viewed by Business Insider, Costco CEO Craig Jelinek announced that hourly employees in the US, including Puerto Rico, will be paid an additional $2 per hour for time worked during the five-week period between March 2 and April 5.
• Target recently announced it would raise its pay for employees by $2 an hour through at least May 2.
• Costco CFO Richard Galanti told Business Insider that the company is actively trying to figure out the best ways to take care of its employees.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Costco employees in the US are getting an additional $2 an hour for their work during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a Monday email sent to all US employees and viewed by Business Insider, Costco CEO Craig Jelinek announced that hourly employees in the US, including Puerto Rico, will be paid an additional $2 per hour for time worked during the five-week period between March 2 through April 5.

"In recognition of your hard work during this unprecedented time, all full-time, part-time, and limited part-time hourly Costco employees in the US and Puerto Rico will receive an additional $2 per hour for hours worked during the five week of March 2 through April 5, 2020," the email reads. "This additional compensation will be paid in a lump sum in your April 17 paycheck."

Costco is currently experiencing a major surge in sales from panicked shoppers who are flocking to the warehouse stores to stock up on essentials. The company placed restrictions on purchases and returns to curb the practice of overbuying that is leaving some shelves bare of essential products like toilet paper and soap.

Costco CFO Richard Galanti told Business Insider that Costco is actively trying to figure out the best ways to take care of its employees and that the pay raise was something the company had been trying to figure out for a bit.

Target recently made a similar move when it announced it would raise its pay for employees by $2 an hour through at least May 2. Target has experienced similar surges in demand amid the coronavirus outbreak.

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