Employee benefits are going to look very different very soon
Student loans are being pegged as the worst debt crisis since the housing crash in 2008. Faulty loans propped up even worse mortgages, and now over-priced degrees are setting students up for failure.
It’s unlikely debt-ridden college graduates will be able to invest in their futures and pay off student loans at the same time. They’re going to need help. Luckily, a new generation of startups are building out the infrastructure to support the future of employee perks, including student loan repayment.
Traditional employee benefits include health care (vision and dental if you’re lucky), 401K plans (sometimes matching, increasingly not so much), vacation time and maybe a company phone or credit card.
In the future, benefits packages are going to look more like this: subsidized fitness memberships, mental health resources, re-education programs and matching student loan payments.
Goodly, a member of Y Combinator’s Spring 2018 class, is developing a platform to help employers provide student loan assistance as an employee benefit. The San-Francisco based startup automates the entire process for enrolling, verifying and facilitating repayment plans. According to the company’s website, it can do so for as little as $6 per month per employee.
Goodly isn’t the only option for companies looking to help its employees repay student debt. Philadelphia-based Gradfin offers a three-part solution that incorporates financial wellness training, a refinancing program and a repayment platform. The company raised $1.1 million in venture funding in April.
If college graduates can repay their loans faster, they can purchase cars, houses, more avocado toast and most importantly, live more financially stable lives. Student loan repayment is arguably one of the most valuable benefits a company could offer to a recent college graduate.
The overarching idea behind employee benefits is to make people’s lives easier so they’re more productive at work. Today’s college graduates have drastically different challenges than their parents, and even their older siblings. They’re concerned about mental and physical health, broadening their perspectives and learning new skills.
Employers could begin offering services like ClassPass, which offers members access to a network of fitness studios that teach everything from yoga to kickboxing, to encourage well-rounded health. To promote re-education, businesses could give employees access to Lynda.com, LinkedIn’s online learning platform.
Employee benefits have remained largely unchanged for years, while technology has progressed and life’s challenges have changed. It’s time to match the two.
