More Employers Try to Help Workers Pay Student Loans
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Employers are discovering that making it easier for workers to pay off their student loans helps to attract and keep a happy workforce.

More and more companies are helping workers refinance their debts at better rates, giving employees extra cash for loan payments, or even paying their workers' lenders directly. It's a major benefit for millennials — people 35 and under — who are struggling to pay thousands of dollars in student debts as they enter the workforce.

"It's actually helped me quite a lot," says Christina Lin, a graphic designer who sliced her $3,800 in student loan debt in half within six months with help from her employer, ChowNow.

This is not as simple as it sounds: Many college graduates end up owing multiple lenders, and the tax implications can be complicated. Employers also want to make sure the money goes to the right place. This has created a niche for a handful of startups helping employers deliver the benefit.

Just 3 percent of employers helped workers repay student loans last year, according to a survey of more than 460 human resource managers conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management.

But more are starting to offer it, including some big-name companies.

Beginning in July, New York-based accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers plans to give certain employees with student loan debt as much as $1,200 a year for up to six years. Kronos Inc., a software company in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, will pay employees up to $500 a year toward student loan debts for as long as they need it. And some U.S. employees of Paris-based Natixis Global Asset Management can get $5,000 to go toward their federal loans, plus more if they stay with the company for more than five years.

Microsoft Corp. gives its workers the option to refinance student loans at discounted interest rates thanks to the company's relationship with online lender SoFi. It doesn't cost Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft anything, but SoFi says some of its 200 clients pay the lender to deliver even lower rates for their workers.

The class of 2014 graduated with an average of $28,950 in student loan debt, up 2 percent from the year before, according to the Project on Student Loan Debt. Employers say workers tell them their debts make it impossible to save for retirement or buy a home.

"Millennials are being crushed by student debt," says Michael Fenlon, the global talent leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, which enlisted a startup, Gradifi, to handle the new benefit.

Gradifi and Tuition.io focus on processing the payments by employers; each say they already are working with about 100 companies each to provide it. Others, including SoFi, Credible and CommonBond, enable companies to help refinance their workers' student debts with more manageable rates and payment plans.

EdAssist, which has managed tuition payment benefits for employers for about nine years, began offering student loan repayments as well last year.

"Millennials are asking for it," says Bruce Elliott, a manager of compensation and benefits at the Society for Human Resource Management.

That matters, because millennials surpassed Generation X to become the largest cohort in the workforce last year, according to the Pew Research Center, and their options are improving along with the job market. The vast majority say their ability to pay student loans would affect whether they take a job, according to a survey by the American Student Assistance, a nonprofit that helps borrowers manage their student debt.

Lin pays about $150 on her debts each month, and ChowNow chips in another percentage, about $40. The Los Angeles company, which powers online and app ordering for restaurants, now pays up to $500 per year per employee, and plans to increase that to $1,000 this year.

"It's harder to hire great talent, and this is another great tool to do that," says Christopher Webb, the CEO of ChowNow, which uses Tuition.io to handle the benefit.

Workers need to examine the benefits carefully. If refinancing, they should make sure the terms are better than what they already pay. Those with federal loans may lose protections and perks by switching to other lenders. And loan payments — like cash — are currently taxable as income.

Legislation in Congress could change that. The Employer Participation in Student Loan Assistance Act, for example, proposes making up to $5,250 a year in employer payments for student loan debts tax-free for the worker, and eligible for tax breaks for the employer. The bill introduced in October is sponsored by Republican Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois, and has been gathering co-sponsors.

企業拉住人才出招 幫員工還學貸

美國大學畢業生背負沉重學生貸款，得花好幾年才能償還。近年來美國雇主嘗試以談到較低利率或發獎金的方式，幫助年輕員工還學貸；員工減輕負擔，專注工作，雇主則贏得員工向心力與忠誠，可謂雙贏。

大學學費年年攀高，35歲以下的「千禧世代」被沉重的學貸壓得喘不過氣。2014年畢業的美國大學生背負的學貸，平均為2萬8950美元（約台幣97萬元），比起前一年增加2%。

美國人力資源管理協會調查460位人資經理後發現，去年僅約3%的雇主協助員工還學貸，不過伸出援手的雇主正在增加中，而且不乏知名企業，方法包括幫忙與借貸銀行談較低的利率，發獎金，或是直接先代員工還清貸款。

全球四大會計師事務所之一的資誠，發給部分有學貸的員工每年1200美元，最多6年。麻州的軟體公司克羅諾斯每年補助有學貸的員工500美元，不限次數。

法儲銀環球資產管理公司在職5年以上的員工，可領到一筆5000美元償還學貸。微軟和線上借貸公司SoFi合作，讓員工降低還款利率，約200名員工受惠。

「雇主助員工還學貸」似乎也成為商機，美國出現數家新創公司，幫企業規畫援助措施。資誠聘用新創公司Gradifi，規畫相關福利，全球人資長芬隆指出：「千禧世代正被學貸壓垮。」根據皮尤研究中心調查，去年千禧世代已取X世代，成為職場主力。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/01/13/us/ap-us-on-the-money-employers-student-loans-.html

2016-01-13．聯合晚報．A6．國際焦點．編譯莊蕙嘉