Recruiting & Retention Advantages in a Competitive Environment

On December 10, 2025, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point with hopes that it will stimulate business growth which will include increased hiring.  If you are one of the employers that is looking to grow in 2026 and will be competing for new talent with other growing employers, here is a thought....

Oliver Wyman research shows that 90% of working professionals with student debt say a student loan repayment benefit would positively influence their decision to accept a job offer, recommend an employer, or want to stay with their current employer.

With that in mind, you could approach this benefit in a few different ways:

1) Set up a budget (for instance $200/month) that employees can use to help pay off student loans.  Or if they do not have student loans, if can go to a 529 college savings account, or an Emergency Savings Account, or an HSA.  The employee directs where this money would go.

2) Set up a budget to match an employee's contribution into one of the accounts mentioned above.

3) Use your current retirement match formula (for example (1.00/$1.00 to 6%) and any match dollars that do not go into the retirement account can be directed to go into one of the accounts mentioned above.  This approach is budget-friendly since it uses an existing budget contribution.

This is the creative solution that we provide at Thrive.  It is a great way to recruit new employees and create a special loyalty with existing employees that increases retention.