Amazon is raising starting pay for front-line workers, paying them an average of $19 per hour at a cost of nearly $1 billion.

Amazon is spending nearly $1 billion over the next year to raise starting pay for its front-line workers. The company says workers’ starting pay will increase, with employees making anywhere from $16 and $26 per hour, with an average of $19.

“Front-line employees across customer fulfillment and transportation will now earn, on average, more than $19 per hour in the U.S., and they also have access to a growing range of comprehensive benefits to support themselves and their families,” said John Felton, Amazon’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations. “Continuing to invest in pay, providing easy access to earned wages at any time during the month, and offering great benefits and career advancement opportunities are all part of our long-term efforts to be the best employer in the world.”

The company is also expanding its employee development program, adding the Amazon Intelligence Initiative. The program will help employees transition to engineering jobs within the company’s AWS cloud business. Individuals enrolled in the program will continue to have full-time employment, complete with benefits and good pay, while they complete their training.

Amazon is clearly trying to keep employees happy at a time when it is experiencing more pressure than ever from various unionization efforts. The company also enraged employees when it backtracked on raises, blaming a software glitch for the higher packages it initially promised employees.