In 2021, Macy’s announced plans to raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour for current and new workers by May 2022. According to the department store chain, the average base pay for workers at Macy’s is more than $17, and the average total pay is $20 an hour. Additionally, the iconic department store partnered with Guild Education to offer employees an educational benefits package that covers 100% of the costs of tuition, fees, and books.
“This program removes a major barrier to accessing education and will help our colleagues to further develop their skills and grow their careers and earning potential,” explains Danielle Kirgan, Macy’s chief transformation and human resources officer. The company expects to spend $35 million on the educational program over the next four years.
The package, curated by Guild Education, includes numerous options for education advancement, including bachelor’s degrees, English language learning, professional certificates, and boot camps. The department store hopes it will help attract quality workers to join the Macy’s family. During the 2021 holiday season, Macy’s expected to have 76,000 full- and part-time workers on the job.
According to Macy’s, “Active regular, part-time and full-time colleagues based in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Guam are eligible on your first day at Macy’s, Inc. Please note this benefit is not available to seasonal/temporary or flex/contingent colleagues, and affiliated colleagues, unless specifically provided under the applicable collective bargaining agreement.”
Exploring the Educational Benefit Package
- Macy’s covers all costs. Workers can choose from various college degrees and professional certificates for free. The program is fully funded and includes access to more than 20 top schools and universities.
- It’s been created with working students in mind. The catalog of more than 100 fully funded programs in high-demand fields has been designed to make education and upskilling achievable for working adults.
- Students are supported every step of the way. The highly trained Guild team provides personalized coaching and assistance to students throughout their educational adventure. These flexible programs are online and self-paced.
Why Companies Choose Guild Education
Macy’s is one of the growing number of businesses to partner with edtech company Guild Education to offer affordable college education, textbooks, and certifications to entice workers. Walmart, Lowe’s, Chipotle, Starbucks, Target, Disney, Kohl’s, and the amusement properties owned by Herschend Family Entertainment also offer similar perks.
Colleges and universities included in Guild Education’s learning providers roster are eCornell, Wilmington University, Penn Foster High School, LSU Online & Continuing Education, Colorado State University, eSpelman, Excelsior College, Bellevue University, EnGen, Rice University Online Executive Education, Sophia Learning, Southern New Hampshire University, Rutgers University Bootcamps, Pima Medical Institute, and Purdue University Global.
“Endless possibilities is the [phrase] that instantly comes to mind when thinking of my opportunities supported through education. Knowledge is something that no one can ever take away from me, and I plan on gaining as much of it in this lifetime as possible so that I can be my best self, support those in my community, and make a change,” says eCornell student Natasha R.
Natasha is one of the 120,000-plus students Guild Education has empowered to achieve their educational dreams. According to a recent report from the company, headquartered in Denver, 40% of higher education students in the United States are working adult learners. At the 13th annual ASU/GSV Summit, Rachel Carlson, the CEO and co-founder of Guild Education, explained that the company “promotes upward mobility to promote equitable opportunity.”
According to Carlson, Guild is constantly evaluating and expanding its programs to achieve the best results. “We are doing our best in our own data sets today to constantly evaluate programs for quality outcomes,” she said. “We know that Chipotle employees [using the company’s education and skilling program] are being promoted at 7.5 times the rate of their peers who aren’t in the program. But we don’t know about those students who leave Chipotle; we don’t have access to the IRS data in an aggregated sense to measure it.” She would like to see that change in the future. “We would love a data set that lets us help measure the economic mobility of every American learner so we can hold programs accountable,” she stated.
Carlson added, “Adult learners are just so important if we are trying to reach our goals as a country. Higher education really is part of the solution to our country’s problems. Learner rates go up when we don’t ask employees to front the money for their own education. We need to make sure that like a 401(k) and health care, the employee doesn’t have to front the money.”
Additionally, the private sector needs to do its part to tackle student debt issues. “There is a massive role for the private sector to play in preventing student debt in the first place,” said Carlson. She added “97% of learners Guild supports using tuition assistance graduate debt-free from tuition, textbooks, or fees due to the support of their employers.”