Why? The raise impacts 5700 of the 48000 employees Aetna has. The total amount of the increases in salary is probably less than the $35 million he made in salary and bonuses for 2012. It's not going to impact the company's bottom line by any appreciable amount, and may well cut down on employee turnover. It's a smart business decision.
Don’t be so sure on it preventing turnover. There are probably more than a few that have worked hard to get to that magical $16 figure. Now some new person with less time in service and experience gets the same salary. I’m betting they’ll get no offset raise. Expect some people to be pretty unhappy.
He didn't say it was a smart business decision. He said to pay less was unfair.