Amazon.com Inc. is raising pay for fulfillment and transportation workers by $1.50 an hour starting this month, raising the base wage to more than $22 an hour, or $3,000 a year on average for full-time employees who work a 40-hour week.

The company will spend over $2.2 billion on the hikes that will take the base salaries of hourly workers to more than $22 an hour, and more than $29 an hour including benefits. Amazon's decision comes as one of the biggest employers in the U.