ST. LOUIS – Recently, the company Clayco conducted a staff survey and discovered that 10% of their roughly 3,000 employees were struggling with student loan debt.
“A handful of our team leaders spoke up to team leadership and talked about how crippling it was to them financially to have to begin repaying on their student loans,” Katie Lane, Clayco chief talent officer, said.
After the discovery, the company created the Clayco Student Loan Repayment Plan. It’s open to current employees, and the only requirement to participate is that the employee make at least the minimum monthly loan payment.
“We came up with a two-part solution to help people begin to get some financial relief as early as April 2024,” Lane said.
Clayco used a $35,000 student loan balance with a 6% interest rate as an example of how debt repayment could work. Using a third-party vendor, Clayco says they will pay $100 per month towards the employee’s student debt for the first year of the program.
The company will increase its monthly payment on the loan by $50 a year until it maxes out at $250 per month in the fourth year of the program. Clayco tells FOX 2 that team members participating in the company’s 401(k) program can choose to direct that contribution to their student debt and Clayco will continue to match their contribution into the company’s 401(k).
“We just rolled this out to our full-time team members (in the) middle of last week and already we’ve got roughly 10% of people registered in the system and ready to start receiving those payments on top of what they’re contributing,” Lane said.
Clayco hopes this program will provide its employees with peace of mind and the freedom to focus on the future without the long-term worry of student debt.
“This is just another way we’re continuing to take care of our people and show them that we really care about not just them and what they do at work, but them outside of work.” Lane said.
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