CNN Money: Worker wages: Wendy's vs. Wal-Mart vs. Costco

By Emily Jane Fox
CNN Money, Aug 6, 2013

[Includes chart showing very different pay/benefits for workers in similar positions at Wendy's, Walmart and Costco]

Can a company pay its workers well and also make money? ... Hundreds of dissatisfied workers at major American companies like Wal-Mart, McDonald's and Wendy's have joined protests nationwide in the past year demanding higher wages and better benefits.

One company that hasn't had to deal with such strikes is Costco. The no-frills warehouse chain pays its hourly workers an average of just over $20 an hour, compared to just under $13 at competitor Wal-Mart. ...Sales at Costco have grown an average of 13% annually since 2009, while profits have risen 15%. Its stock price has more than doubled since 2009.

During the same period, discount retailer Wal-Mart's sales grew an average of 4.5% each year, profits rose 7%, and its stock price increased 70%. ...

Research shows that it pays to pay employees well, because satisfied workers are more productive and motivated, according to MIT Sloan School of Management professor Zeynep Ton, who focuses on operations management. ... The productivity translates into sales, she said.

According to Ton's research, sales per employee at Costco were almost double those at Sam's Club, its direct warehouse competitor owned by Wal-Mart. ...