We're seeing many companies using incentives to attract workers.
LinkedIn says the most common incentives focus on more flexibility and better work-life balance, like 4-day work weeks.
Other companies that need employees back in the office are looking at what else they can offer.
Education help is becoming something more companies are considering.
“The rising cost of tuition is still front of front and center for a lot of people. And I think we're seeing some places put emphasis on that and say, ‘Hey we're going to help you with either your student loans or even just going to get an education, right now.’ And I think, also a lot of people, because of the pandemic, they realized how important skills and learning is,” said Andrew Seaman, Senior Editor at LinkedIn News.
Guild Education is working with companies to add programs or to ensure their programs are competitive. Its CEO says while traditional tuition reimbursement has existed for a long time, it’s not what people need at the moment.
“Today's core worker is a 32-year-old woman of color. She's a mom. She wants to work full-time, and she wants to figure out how to go back to school on evenings and weekends. She needs flexibility and, primarily, she needs not tuition reimbursement, where she has to pay upfront,” said Rachel Carlson, CEO of Guild Education.
Guild Education says Waste Management just became the first to offer free college education to their employees, along with their spouses and kids.
“This is totally debt-free for the employee and they don't have to pay anything upfront, so we are meeting them at their needs, but it's also mutually beneficial for the company,” said Tamla Oates-Forney, SVP and Chief People Officer at Waste Management.
Waste management's chief people officer thinks this will attract and retain workers. They've been dealing with a supply and demand issue with drivers and technicians. Demand is way up for drivers in the pandemic to deliver goods.
They're recruiting from the same pool of workers as retaining employees saves the company money. They say each new hire can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000.
The cost of losing an employee on the other hand can be anywhere from $12,000 to $30,000.
Guild Education has found people in their company-funding programs are nearly three times more likely to stay with the company.