Target debuts full-ride education program for employees

Target is aiming to entice hiring more employees by offering an educational program for employees that will cover 100% of tuition and book fees for prospective students. Target is among the large retails attempting to offer employees better benefits in a competitive market with a huge demand for hiring more employees.
 
Many businesses had to cut back on labor due to the economic hardship throughout the pandemic but now nearly all businesses are hiring creating a competitive market for employees. More retailers are offering enticing benefits with the goal of hiring more employees with Starbucks, Walmart, and Chipotle employees being offered similar debt-free education programs.

Target’s educational program seems to offer the most compared to retailer competitors offering part- and full-time workers full coverage of cost for tuition, textbooks, and fees. The retailer will start offering the new educational program starting this fall for workers who pursue a qualifying degree spanning over 40 institutions and 250 programs aligned with Target’s business.
 
Target will be covering the costs of employees studying among their pre-designated programs including business management, computer science, information technology, and more. If an employee desires a graduate degree or study a different field, Target will pay up to $5,250 for non-master’s degrees and up to $10,000 for master’s degree programs with annual direct payments to the academic institution.
 
Target worked in coordination with a company that manages corporate education assistance programs, Guild Education, to designate the participating schools. Target will be dedicating $200 million into the new education program over the next four years.