Target, the global retail company has joined the likes of Walmart, Taco Bell and Walt Disney in providing undergraduate certificates and associate degrees to its front-line employees. The Company has decided to offer debt-free education-assistance programme, which will benefit 3,40,000 of its employees across stores, distribution centres and headquarters in the US. The employees will have access to undergraduate and associates degrees, textbooks, certificates, bootcamp programmes, course fees and a lot more. All expenses will be covered by the Company, with no employees being required to shell out anything from their pockets.
Target’s partnership with Guild Education will provide its staff access to 250 business-aligned programmes from over 40 schools, colleges and universities. The Company has also decided to fund advanced courses up to $10,000 for master’s degrees.
The Company intends to invest $200 million over the next four years to support this programme in a bid to keep up its promise to make education accessible and affordable to its employees under the Target Forward initiative.
“Target employs team members at every life stage and helps our team learn, develop and build their skills, whether they’re with us for a year or a career. A significant number of our hourly team members build their careers at Target, and we know many would like to pursue additional education opportunities. We don’t want the cost to be a barrier for anyone, and that’s where Target can step in to make education accessible for everyone,” says Melissa Kremer, CHRO, Target.
She adds, “Our team members are the heart of Target’s strategy and success, and we have a long history of investing in industry-leading pay, extensive benefits and career opportunities to help our team thrive and have rewarding careers at Target.”
Quite a significant number of the hourly workers at Target are able to build their careers at the Company. Target realises that many are desirous of pursuing further education, but lack the opportunity due to financial constraints. With this programme, Target hopes to remove that constraint and make education accessible to all its employees.
