Bangor Savings Bank hikes minimum wage to $18 an hour

Photo / Jessica Hall Bangor Savings Bank, whose Damariscotta branch is shown here, will raise minimum pay rates to $18 an hour.

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By Jessica Hall

Bangor Savings Bank on Wednesday said it will increase its minimum wage for employees to $18 an hour, $2 more than the current pay rate, in an effort to attract and retain workers.

The raise, effective Oct. 18, will apply to about 475 of the bank's 1,100 employees.

"We're continuing to attract great talent. The change we've seen is that we used to have 10-plus candidates per opening and now we have five or so. The pool of potential candidates is not as large," Bob Montgomery-Rice, president and CEO of Bangor Savings Bank, told Mainebiz in an interview. "There's definitely a tight labor market."

The current hourly wage of $16 is already far above the state-mandated minimum of $12.15, which will increase to $12.75 in January 2022.

The bank said its own hike provides increases to all employees currently earning $16-$21.99 per hour. Employees, including those receiving increases, still remain eligible for annual performance and incentive-based compensation.

The hike comes out of an annual compensation review the bank has done since 2015. The bank reviews its compensation plan, including comparative market and position data, to keep pay competitive.

During the pandemic, Bangor Savings saw its employee turnover drop in half, Montgomery-Rice said. The bank has recently seen turnover return to normal, pre-pandemic levels. It also has seen continued acceleration of retirements for those at the ends of the careers.

"I don't know if it's that their 401(k)'s have done well or they want to do something else, but we're seeing a lot of retirements," Montgomery-Rice said.

He said Bangor Savings, as well as any company, needs to recruit constantly to keep a healthy flow of employees.

"You have to be very active in recruiting on a constant basis. Even when you have all your jobs filled, you keep recruiting," Montgomery-Rice said.

In a news release, Bangor Savings said the wage increase reflects the bank's “dedication to its employees and its commitment to attracting and retaining talent, while offering fair and equitable pay regardless of position, location, or full or part-time status.”

With more than $6 billion in assets and over 60 branches in Maine and New Hampshire, Bangor Savings is the largest Maine-based bank, according to the 2021 Mainebiz Book of Lists.