The Washington Metro is offering $2,500 signing bonuses and starting salaries of more than $50,000 to new bus drivers amid the labor shortage

• Washington Metrobus said it's giving $2,500 signing bonuses and $50,000 salaries to new hires.
• It comes as Metrobus is struggling with staff shortages because of COVID-19.

Washington Metro transit agency is offering $2,500 sign-on bonuses and starting wages of more than $50,000 to new hires in an effort to tackle the labor shortage.

Metro announced on Tuesday via its website that it was looking to hire bus drivers and said it would pay people to get trained within nine weeks.

Salaries for Metrobus drivers are $20 an hour during training and start at $25 an hour after training finishes, per the website.

The position offers benefits such as health insurance, paid time off, and free transportation on Metrobus and Metrorail, the agency said on its website.

Metrobus said in a post dated as being effective from April 2021 to March 2022 that "periodic operator shortages" have hit the service as some employees take sick leave to recover from COVID-19.

The agency apologized in the post to customers for the disruption to the Metrobus service and warned that some trips may have to be delayed or cancelled.

Insider has reached out to Metro for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

"We want operators with a passion for customer service and who understand how much the job they do matters to the lives of people every day," Paul J. Wiedefeld, Metro's general manager, said in a statement to The Washington Post.

Metro wants to hire more than 70 bus drivers, it told The Post, which reported that the agency has reduced its service by around 25% because of drivers becoming ill.