Following the Supreme Court's denial of President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, the interest on those debts begins accruing on Sept. 1, with loan repayments due on Oct. 1. Amid this souring backdrop, there has been a number of employers rushing to attract talent - in the form of debt assistance programs.
Bloomberg cited new data from job site Handshake that showed the share of full-time job listings mentioning student debt repayment programs has doubled since 2019. The share currently stands at 3% of all job listings.
More than 40.5 million borrowers owe a whopping $1.4 trillion in student loans. Using a 10-year payment period and a 5.8% interest rate, Barclays (in a separate report) calculates those folks owe an average of $390 monthly. Handshake data shows about 50% of the class of 2024 will graduate with student debt.
The days of companies offering employees free cafes, restaurants, and well-stocked micro kitchens are over. Instead, offering student debt relief programs is the new way to attract talent.
Christine Cruzvergara, Handshake's chief education strategy officer, expects an increasing number of employers will begin to offer student loan relief perks in the years ahead to attract the best talent.
"The perk helps with higher retention of younger career employees," according to Megan Bourque, head of benefits at Fidelity Investments. She said her firm first offered the assistance program in 2016, allowing eligible staff who work more than 30 hours a week to access up to $15,000 over seven years' worth of monthly payments.
"With a cohort of workers increasingly burdened by student debt, help paying it down is likely to have wide appeal," Cruzvergara said, adding, "It's such a large swath of our graduating class now that it's undeniably an issue for an entire generation."
Forget free food perks. New grads with insurmountable debts will now search for companies offering the best assistance plans.
Take note, corporate America.
