Home Depot Hikes Trade Specialist Pay

Atlanta, GA, March 23, 2007--Home Depot said it it had raised pay levels for trade specialists as it looks to hire more skilled workers to improve customer service in its stores and try to gain back market share.

Frank Blake, named chairman and chief executive in January when ex-CEO Robert Nardelli resigned, said growth in the U.S. housing market in recent years limited Home Depot's ability to hire trade specialists, who had other jobs to pursue as home construction and remodeling picked up.

But he also said during a Merrill Lynch conference that controls on wages had hurt the home improvement retailer's specialist recruitment effort, leading to "unintended consequences."

Home Depot, which faces more competition as smaller rival Lowe's Cos. Inc. (LOW.N: Quote, Profile , Research) expands to big markets such as New York, is boosting capital spending by 29 percent this year. The added investment will be used to hire skilled workers, maintain stores and on other initiatives.

"With the announcement of the master trade specialists, we have also raised the pay band," added Joe MacFarland, regional vice president for the New York metropolitan area, who attended the conference with Blake. He said trade specialists can earn "up to $30 an hour within our stores."

Blake, who joined Atlanta-based Home Depot in 2002, reiterated that 2007 would be a tough year for the retailer but said it was having "quite a bit of success" attacking market share losses in flooring as it expands product selection.