Companies lure hourly workers with college tuition perks | New Orleans CityBusiness neworleanscitybusiness.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from neworleanscitybusiness.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
NEW YORK More than a dozen companies have launched free or almost-free college programs for their front-line workers over the past decade. Companies see the programs as a way to recruit and retain workers in a tight labor market or train them for management positions. For hourly employees, the programs remove the financial barriers of obtaining a degree.
Walmart, Amazon and Chipotle have made free higher education accessible for to more than 3 million U.S. workers, but critics question whether the move is glossing over deeper issues.