TJ Maxx Follows Wal-Mart in Raising Employee Wages to $9 an Hour

Wal-Mart has company.

T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and other chains owned by TJX Cos. will be increasing the pay of U.S. workers to at least $9 an hour beginning in June. That matches the level adopted by Wal- Mart Stores Inc. earlier this month. TJX, which also runs HomeGoods and Sierra Trading Post Associates, will boost wages to $10 by in 2016 for workers with at least six months of employment.

“This pay initiative is an important part of our strategies to continue attracting and retaining the best talent in order to deliver a great shopping experience for our customers, remain competitive on wages in our U.S. markets and stay focused on our value mission,” Chief Executive Officer Carol Meyrowitz said in a statement on Wednesday.

The move follows a holiday quarter that exceeded the company’s sales growth and profit estimates, Meyrowitz said. Still, TJX’s forecast for the current quarter fell short of analysts’ projections. And as was the case with Wal-Mart last week, the shares declined in the wake of its wage announcement.

TJX’s stock dropped as much as 2.9 percent to $65.20 in early trading on Wednesday. Shares of the Framingham, Massachusetts-based company had climbed 7.6 percent last year.