Fidelity Investments announced Tuesday that it will offer to fully fund undergraduate degrees for roughly 18,000 U.S. associates that support its personal investing and workplace investing businesses.
The news comes as the firm — which hired 16,600 individuals in 2021 — says it is "on track to exceed that figure this year," according to a press release, which adds that Fidelity's customer service organization has grown by 127% over the past three years.
In April, Fidelity said it would likely add 12,000 new jobs by Sept. 30, including new positions for advisors. It also anticipated that for 2022 it would beat its 2021 hiring level, which it stated was 16,600.
According to the firm, the program announced Tuesday is "an investment in the next generation of financial services talent and part of a larger expansion of the firm's education benefits."
"We are constantly evolving our benefits so that we can improve the long-term success of our associates and our customers," Megan Bourque, head of benefits at Fidelity Investments, said in a statement.
"This new benefit will create growth opportunities for our associates and increase accessibility to higher education, something we've been focused on for years through our student-debt relief benefit," Bourque noted.
