Charles Schwab said it will increase employee pay by 5% and push back its return-to-office plans to no sooner than January as the COVID-19 delta variant spreads across the U.S.
The pay raise, affecting most of Schwab’s 32,500 employees, will take effect in late September, the Westlake, Texas-based brokerage said Thursday in a statement.
“This increase is a way to reward our talented employees for their contributions and their relentless commitment to see the world through clients’ eyes, even during the most challenging times,” CEO Walt Bettinger said in the statement.
Schwab joins other large financial firms in boosting salaries after more than a year of working through the pandemic. BlackRock increased pay by 8% for employees at the director level and below, and delayed its office re-entry plans to October.
Big banks, meanwhile, have been locked in a bidding war for young talent, with Goldman Sachs among those dangling at least $110,000 in base pay for junior staffers, up from $85,000.
Schwab, which acquired rival TD Ameritrade last year, has about 32.4 million active brokerage accounts.
