Restaurants and stores in the United States are working to raise wages as an urgent measure to lure more workers and appropriately serve a wave of customers as COVID-19 infections decrease.

McDonald’s, Sheets, and Chipotle are just a few of the companies that recently imitated Amazon, Walmart, and Costco in offering a raise, in some cases at $ 15 an hour or more.

The increases are of course a big help for these employees. Restaurants, bars, hotels and stores remain the least profitable economic sectors, and many of their employees have been at risk of contracting COVID-19 on their workplaces over the past year in a period when office workers were able to work from home.

However, wage increases could contribute to inflation if firms raise prices to cover additional labor costs. However, some companies can absorb the costs or invest in automation to offset the wage increase.

States and cities are easing restrictions on businesses as COVID-19 cases and deaths drop, and in places like Florida, Nevada and Texas, restaurant traffic has been above or near pre-pandemic levels, according to OpenTable, a software provider for the sector.

Many companies say they struggle to find employees.

“Customers are coming back faster than restaurants can join,” said Josh Bevens, director of research at the Left Institute of Economic Policy. “By raising wages, they can get more workers.”

In April, even with a slowdown in employment overall, in the economic category that includes restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues, more new workers were hired than in the previous month, indicating that the salary increase is working as expected. Incentive .

McDonald’s announced Thursday that by 2024 it will raise workers’ wages at 650 company-owned restaurants to an average of $ 15 an hour. New hires will earn $ 11 an hour. The company is urging the nearly 14,000 franchise restaurants to make the same changes.

For its part, Amazon stated the same day that it will pay new employees $ 17 an hour, and it wants to hire 75,000 of them. The online sales giant is offering a $ 100 bonus to new employees who have already been vaccinated.