Workers at top 20 US low-wage firms rely on public assistance, report says | Business
Many workers at some of the largest U.S. companies have no choice but to rely on health care and food assistance because of low wages even as CEO salaries continue to rise, according to a new report. report Released Wednesday.
The report, published by the Institute for Policy Studies, focuses on 20 S&P 500 companies that have predominantly U.S.-based workforces and report the lowest average wages in the group.
Collectively, these “Low Wage 20” employ 6.7 million people in the United States. The average wage at the majority of companies (75%) is lower than the minimum income required for a family of three to qualify for Medicaid in most states. At 13 of the companies, the average wage was also lower than the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program income threshold for a family of three.
Nearly a quarter (29.3%) of Walmart employees and half (48.4%) of Amazon employees in Nevada were on Medicaid in 2024, according to the report, which aggregates Medicaid enrollment numbers among employees at large companies.
Among the four states that disclose Snap data on major companies (Colorado, Massachusetts, Illinois and Michigan), 10,920 Walmart employees and 9,633 Amazon employees signed up for Snap in 2024.
Donald Trump’s “A Big, Beautiful Bill” is expected to lead to approximately 7.5 million Americans losing Medicaid and 4 million Americans losing some or all of their Snap benefits after budget cuts, the report said.
Companies also spent massive amounts of share buybacks, totaling $32.5 billion in 2024. Lowe’s and Home Depot top the report’s share buyback list; During this period, Lowe spent $46.6 billion on share buybacks, while Home Depot spent $37.9 billion.
According to the report, if all companies spent that money to increase workers’ wages, wages for one million workers could rise from $29,087 to $59,600; this was the income level needed to cover the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the United States.
Instead, the average median salary of the “Low-Wage 20” fell 4.6% from 2019 to 2024, from $30,474 to $29,087 when adjusted for inflation.
Even though Starbucks offered a 401k matching program, many workers couldn’t afford the benefit: 45% of eligible workers had a zero balance in their plan accounts in 2024. That same year, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol’s salary was $95.8 million; by contrast, the average salary was $14,674; the rate was $1 to $6,666.
Median CEO compensation at 20 companies reached $18.9 million in 2024; The average CEO/average employee pay ratio at these companies was between $899 and $1. The report states that the fortunes of 16 billionaires, including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, eight members of Walmart’s Walton family and Starbucks’ former CEO Howard Schultz, are tied to these 20 companies.
“When companies can avoid putting the basic living expenses of their employees on taxpayers, that’s a form of corporate welfare,” Sarah Anderson, director of the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies and author of the report, said in a statement. “With the federal government cutting spending on anti-poverty programs, it has become even more important for major companies in the world’s richest country to pay their workers a living wage.”
A spokesperson for Amazon claimed their salaries were among the best in the retail industry. According to the 2024 report, Amazon Provides 79% employment 100 percent of the workforce in U.S. warehouses with more than 1,000 employees.
“It is misleading to point fingers at Amazon over SNAP and/or Medicaid when eligibility is based on total household income and size, not individual wages,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an email. “As we’ve said for years, what we really need is a significant, large increase in the federal minimum wage, which would be a huge boost to American families.”
Home Depot and Lowe’s did not respond to multiple requests for comment
“We offer a ladder of opportunity for people to build careers at Walmart, including a small percentage of our workforce who come to us for public assistance. We hire them, we train them, and we give them the chance to build a better life,” a spokesperson for Walmart said in an email.
A spokesperson for Starbucks did not comment on the 401k citation but said the company provides benefits such as health care, equity grants and tuition coverage, and noted in an email that employees “remain at Starbucks at rates much higher than the retail average.”
