Student loan borrowers are facing a grim summer: These are the benefits businesses can offer employees to help with debt payments

S·CHRO DailyStudent loan borrowers are facing a grim summer: These are the benefits es can offer employees to help with debt paymentsBY Brit MorseBY Brit MorseLeadership ReporterBrit MorseLeadership ReporterBrit Morse is a Leadership reporter at Fortune, covering workplace trends and the C-suite

She also writes CHRO Daily, Fortune’s flagship for HR fessionals and corporate leaders

SEE FULL BIO Here are a few ways leaders can help their employees struggling to pay off their education

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Student loan borrowers have been on a wild ride over the past few years

The onetime dream of widespread debt forgiveness has been extinguished, and a five-year reprieve for people who had defaulted on student loans expired in May of this year

Benefits geared towards student loan assistance have become more over the past few years

The number of employers offering student loan benefits more than tripled in the past five years, from 4% in 2019 to 14% in 2024, according to the Society for Human Resource Management

And the number of job listings that included loan assistance on the platform Handshake doubled between 2019 and 2023, according to a report from the company

Employers have a range of options to support staff trying to manage student debt, from integrating loan repayment support into retirement plans to offering educational assistance or even allowing workers to trade unused paid time off for loan payments

According to benefits specialists Fortune spoke with, these grams aren’t without obstacles, but they can significantly boost employees’ financial stability and peace of mind. “ leaders can’t ignore this financial pressure anymore,” says Jeremy Yonan, VP of total rewards at job site Indeed. “Student loan debt isn’t just a personal challenge, it’s actually a imperative because the ripple effect comes up in every corner of the workplace

You can read what kinds of benefits employees can offer those with student loan debt here

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