ILMA Compoundings - February 2020 - 32

BUSINESS HUB

Student Debt Repayment
for Attracting Young Talent
By Justin Grensing

A

s companies across the country
compete to attract and retain
top talent and recent graduates
struggle to manage record levels of
student debt, an increasing number
of businesses are experimenting with
benefits aimed at helping to pay off
student loans.
The U.S. economy is in the midst
of its longest economic expansion in
decades. That is both good news and
bad news for employers across all industries. The good news is companies are
growing and generating solid revenues.
The bad news is the strong economy
has also fostered a strong labor market,
which means companies often struggle
to attract and retain top talent.
While salary often comes top of
mind when thinking about what makes
one position more attractive than
another, no company has a limitless
budget, and organizations have found
a variety of creative ways to make positions more enticing. These can include
health care, opportunities for growth
and advancement, flexible scheduling,
the ability to work from home and
travel opportunities, among others.
All of these benefits have varying
appeals for job seekers, depending on
their personal situation. Young single
workers might crave travel opportunities, while older workers or those with
families might put a premium
on health care.
 RECOGNIZING SHIFTING
WORKPLACE DEMOGRAPHICS
According to human resources (HR)
professionals like Quentin Adams,

32

FEBRUARY 2020

| COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG

vice president of purchasing and HR
at Texas Refinery Corp. in Fort Worth,
Texas, the cohort of young workers
that makes up an increasing proportion of the American workforce often
have one thing in common when it
comes to their personal situations:
student debt.
"There are a lot of millennials
coming into the workforce," Adams
said, citing data projections estimating
millennials will constitute half of the
American workforce this year and 75%
of the global workforce by 2025. "We
all know they have college educations
and college debt, and it's a big concern
for them."
 Adams said that while Texas Refinery
Corp. doesn't currently offer student
loan debt repayment as an incentive for
employees, he's certainly open to the idea. 

 Adams also explained that his own
personal perspective helps him see the
appeal of a student loan debt repayment incentive plan. "My son is 17," he
said. "He's got another year left of high
school, so as a parent [in addition to an
HR professional], I'm on the other end
of this, too. It hits home for me more
than for a lot of people."
As employers and their HR leaders
continue to get to know the new face
of the workforce, catering company
benefits to the generation's unique
needs will be an important tool in
recruitment and retention.
STUDENT LOAN DEBT
REPAYMENT VERSUS TUITION
REIMBURSEMENT
Many people are probably familiar with
the concept of employer-sponsored
tuition in the context of tuition


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ILMA Compoundings - February 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ILMA Compoundings - February 2020

ILMA Compoundings - February 2020 - 1
ILMA Compoundings - February 2020 - 2
ILMA Compoundings - February 2020 - Cover1
ILMA Compoundings - February 2020 - Cover2
ILMA Compoundings - February 2020 - 2
ILMA Compoundings - February 2020 - 2
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ILMA Compoundings - February 2020 - Cover3
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