Supermarket chain Lidl has announced a 7.5% pay increase for staff from 1 March 2023, worth €2,000-€2,500 a year for every employee.

The increase is in addition to the retailer’s commitment in October 2022 to paying a minimum of €13.85 per hour, the so-called Living Wage recommended by the Living Wage Technical Group.

Maeve McCleane, chief people officer at Lidl Ireland & Lidl Northern Ireland, commented: “After a rollercoaster few years for the Irish retail sector, we are thrilled to be able to continue to reward the hard work and dedication of our employees by investing €14m in pay rises.

“To recognise the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on our team members, we have significantly increased our investment in pay rises by 30% this year to support our employees as best we can, ensuring that we are offering the most competitive and all-encompassing suite of benefits in the jobs market at present.”

The company signalled that it expects to add 700 new jobs within its Irish operations this year in a variety of operational and office-based roles across its network of 176 store locations, three regional distribution centres, and Dublin head office.

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These new roles will bring Lidl’s total workforce in Ireland to over 6,000 employees for the first time, with the retailer employing 7,500 on the island of Ireland.

New stores in 2023 are due in Kilkenny, Ballincollig, Bettystown, and Limerick. Due for completion is the €75m of Lidl’s Mullingar Distribution Centre.

Enterprise minister Simon Coveney described Lidl’s expansion programme as “a real vote of confidence in the company’s long-term commitment to the Irish retail sector and the Irish economy as a whole”.

The minister also expressed his “delight” at the company’s pay rise.

“I wish to congratulate the entire Lidl team on reaching the milestone of over 6,000 colleagues employed across the country. The company has a very impressive story of growth to tell since it first came to Ireland twenty years ago,” Coveney stated.