Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA) said Tuesday that it will be raising its U.S. employees' minimum wage to $15 an hour in response to current worker shortages.

The drugstore company said it will start to gradually increase hourly pay rates in October. They hope to implement the new rate in full by November 2022 throughout its almost 9,000 stores nationwide.

“Investing in and rewarding our team members is not only the right thing to do, it’s highly important to retaining and attracting a talented workforce and to continuing to serve our critical role in community health care,” Walgreens Chief Executive Officer Rosalind Brewer said in a statement.

Walgreens' starting minimum hourly wage is $10 per hour. About half of the total 190,000 workers currently earn at least $15 an hour, a company spokesperson told Reuters.

The company’s move comes almost a month after its competitor CVS Health announced an increase to their starting wage.

The wage increase will cost Walgreens about $450 million over the next three years, Bloomberg reported.

Following Tuesday’s announcement, Walgreens’ shares rose over 4%.

CNBC said the company’s stock is up about 25% since the start of the year, increasing its market cap to about $43 billion.

Other industries have also been facing worker shortages. The most notable has been the food services industry which has had a 70% increase in job vacancies but a 10% decrease in prospective employees.

A lot of these worker shortages are a result of workers shifting their values, prioritizing child care and mental health as well as more stable jobs with higher pay.

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