Chipotle Mexican Grill announces that it will be providing additional financial wellness and mental well-being support for more than 110,000 employees through a new employee assistance program (EAP) and enhanced benefits. The company will hire additional employees over the next couple of months to prepare for its busiest period of the year from March to May, which has been famously coined “burrito season.”
Chipotle’s new benefits will enable employees to do the following.
- Pay off student debt while saving for retirement. Utilizing SoFi’s Student Loan Verification service, once an employee becomes eligible for Chipotle’s 401(k) plan match, the company will match up to 4% of an employee’s salary through contributions to their 401(k) if they make eligible student loan payments. The benefit solution, launched in response to Congress’ approval of the Securing A Strong Retirement Act, allows employees who qualify to no longer need to choose between paying off student loans and saving for retirement.
- Build credit through a high-tech debit card. Chipotle employees will have access to a debit card created by Cred.ai. They can sign up to have payroll funds deposited into a bank account and use the Cred.ai funds to make purchases and build credit with no fees or interest.
- Manage their financial wellness. Chipotle’s partnership with SoFi will also give employees access to the SoFi at Work dashboard, a leading financial well-being education platform, which includes an assessment of current financial outlook, followed by suggestions and tools to improve.
- Access mental health resources. Chipotle’s new EAP, powered by SupportLinc, focuses on mental and emotional well-being. It includes six free sessions with a licensed counselor and access to tools, resources, and community support for legal, financial, and family matters.
More than 73% of Chipotle restaurant employees are Gen Z, and these new benefits cater to the challenges they are facing. It has been widely cited that those born in the late 1990s through the early 2000s are facing notable financial challenges, including racking up credit card debt faster than previous generations and being nearly twice as likely as the general population to not feel confident managing their money.
“Empowering our talent is embedded in our company’s culture,” says Ilene Eskenazi, chief human resources officer at Chipotle. “As we push toward our long-term goal of operating 7,000 restaurants in North America, it’s crucial that we listen to and adapt to the needs of our team members, so they can grow with us.”
