Macy’s has joined the ever-growing list of major employers offering to pay for its workers’ college education along with boosting their wages and other benefits as it tries to attract and retain employees in a very tight labor market.
On Monday, the department store chain announced it will cover 100% of tuition, books and fees for its U.S.-based, regular, salaried and hourly employees. The offer covers several educational options, including courses for high school completion, college prep, English language learning, associate and bachelor’s degrees, bootcamps and professional certificates.
Describing the new deal as a “debt-free education benefit program,” Macy’s will partner with Guild Education, one of the nation’s largest managers of upskilling and employee education assistance programs, to organize and deliver the initiative. It estimates that the new education benefit will cost about $35 million over the next four years.
Along with the new tuition benefit, Macy’s will raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour by next May, bringing its average base pay to more than $17 per hour. It will also give employees an additional paid holiday off work.
“This program removes a major barrier to accessing education and will help our colleagues to further develop their skills and grow their careers and earning potential,” said Danielle Kirgan, chief transformation and human resources officer at Macy’s.
With the announcement Macy’s adds its name to the growing number of major retailers, restaurant chains, and other companies that are dangling the lure of free college to try to attract workers. Target, Walmart, Chipotle, Taco Bell, Starbucks and Disney have announced similar offers.
While many major companies have offered some kind of educational assistance program to their employees for many years, the take-up rate of such perks has historically been low. With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, some business analysts expected that companies would cut back on their educational benefits in an effort to trim costs.
But that fear is not be playing out. Quite to the contrary, educational benefits are becoming more popular. InStride, another leading company that helps organize employer-provided educational benefits, has reported significant growth since the pandemic began, adding new partners on both the educational provider side and on the corporate business side.
Macy’s move shows just how competitive the labor market has become as the economy’s bounce-back continues. Many businesses are growing more desperate to hire and retain enough workers. At the beginning of the summer, U.S. job openings rose to an unprecedented 9.3 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There are several reasons why employers are struggling to hire workers - inadequate compensation, difficult working conditions, lingering concerns about Covid-19, and - according to some conservative critics - the availability of unemployment benefits that are too attractive.
It remains to be seen whether employer-provided free college will do much to turn the worker shortage around. But it does send a signal that businesses still believe in the value of college and are willing to make big investments to prove it.
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November 09, 2021 at 10:50PM
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Macy’s Will Pay For Its Employees’ College Tuition - Forbes
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