UNITED STATES - The fight for higher pay is ongoing for some in the grocery industry, but Walmart is one big retailer that continues to evaluate its associates’ wages. Roughly one year ago, the company announced plans to raise its hourly starting wage to $11 in addition to investing in employee benefits. Over the weekend, Walmart announced another wage increase, testing a new starting hourly wage of $12 for newly-created jobs in 500 of its U.S. stores, according to Reuters.

The news source noted that over 5,000 of its stores will maintain a minimum wage of $11 per hour. This change was reportedly made as part of Walmart’s efforts to improve the customer experience amongst tight grocery competition.

Jami Lamontagne, Senior Director of Corporate Communications, commented that the new wage will be applied to employees serving in the newly-created role of Team Associate. These employees will be trained to perform several functions throughout the store, inherently giving them greater responsibility.

Will Walmart’s new wage tests heat up big-box retail competition? Follow along with us at AndNowUKnow as we report on the latest.

Walmart