Cone Health increases minimum hourly wage by $1 to $18
Cone Health said Thursday it has raised its minimum hourly wage by $1 to $18 that benefits more than 4,200 employees.
The raise went into effect earlier in May and affected nearly one-third of Cone's more than 13,000 workforce.
The latest increase means annual salaries for affected employees will go from $35,600 to $37,440.
The previous $1 per hour raise took place in January 2024, and affected about 4,500 employees.
The Greensboro healthcare system said it also is providing pay adjustments for employees who earn less than $23 per hour
Employees in flat-rate roles paid less than $18 per hour will see their rates increase to meet the new minimum.
"This investment reflects our ongoing commitment to attracting, supporting and retaining exceptional talent as we continue building a future-ready workplace," said Michelle Adamolekun, Cone's chief people and culture officer.
Cone said it "continually reviews pay and benefits to remain an employer of choice in the communities it serves."
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, the largest private employer in the Triad, raised its minimum hourly wage in January by 35 cents to $18.85 - the highest rate among the region's three major hospital systems.
Advocate Health, parent company of Atrium Health and Baptist, did not disclose how many of Baptist's 22,000 employees will benefit from the hourly pay increase.
The 1.9% minimum hour pay raise followed two $1 an hour increases that went into effect in January 2024 and January 2025.
The latest Baptist increase means annual salaries for minimum-wage employees will go from $38,480 to $39,208.
Novant Health Inc. has a $17 minimum wage that has been in place since March 23.
In February 2025, Novant announced it was providing more than $300 million in pay increases and bonuses during 2025, but not raising its minimum wage.
The additional compensation would be distributed two ways; through base pay increases, which includes market adjustments and appropriate placement in pay range; and bonuses for eligible team members.
Novant has more than 29,200 employees overall, including about 8,500 in the Triad.
The living-wage scale - as calculated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - says a living wage for one adult with no children is $21.26 in Forsyth County, $22.52 in Guilford County, $20.66 in Winston-Salem metropolitan statistical area, $21.82 in the Greensboro-High Point MSA, and $22.47 statewide.
The living wage for a family of two adults (both working) and two children is $24.69 an hour in Forsyth County, $24.79 in Guilford County, $23.89 in the Winston-Salem MSA, $24.11 in the Greensboro-High Point MSA and $25.53 for North Carolina as a whole.
"We are seeing more employers adopt some type of higher floor on wages," said Mark Vitner, chief economist with Piedmont Crescent Capital.
"Obviously, this benefits the workers receiving those wages, but it also raises the bar for new hires."
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