President Joe Biden's imminent executive order requiring federal contractors to pay a $15 hourly minimum wage could put pressure on private sector employers to raise low-income workers' pay.

According to a White House statement, the executive order hiking the wages of hundreds of thousands of employees who are working on federal contracts "will have impacts beyond federal contracting, as competitors in the same labor markets as federal contractors may increase wages, too, as they seek to compete for workers."

The White House added, "Employers may seek to raise wages for workers earning above $15 as they try to recruit and retain talent."

The executive order will require all federal agencies to incorporate a $15 minimum wage into new contract solicitations by January 2022 and into newly signed contracts by March 2022, the White House announced. The minimum hourly rate will then rise annually to keep pace with inflation.

This order "will build on the Obama-Biden Executive Order 13658, issued in February 2014, requiring federal contractors to pay employees working on federal contracts $10.10 per hour, subsequently indexed to inflation," according to the White House statement.