Praised as the “hottest employee benefit today” lawmakers are encouraging companies to offer student loan assistance benefits to current and future employees. But, with only about 3 percent of employers currently offering this perk, there’s still long way to come with this desired benefit.

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With more than 40 million American’s collectively owing $1.3 trillion in student debt​, there are wheels turning to find student loan debt solutions that could help not only workers, but employees as well.

Organizations are catching on to student loan repayment support and realizing that this benefit can help not only the employee, but the company as well. From employees saving thousands to employers having a lower turnover rate, this benefit is one that will be increasingly desired by many. Marvin Adler, Director of Global Benefits at Duff & Phelps, a financial services firm says the company offers competitive traditional benefits as well as a range of voluntary benefits including student loan refinancing. “With these plans, especially student loan refinancing, our employees can save thousands of dollars – giving them the opportunity to fund their retirement account and take advantage of the other company-sponsored benefits,” Alder said.

While there are reasons why so few businesses offer this benefit, some employers are being proactive and offering student loan assistance perks to hire and retain top talent. Below are some companies already ahead of the game.

  • The Federal Government
  • Fidelity
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • Natives Global Asset Management
  • Chegg
  • Microsoft Corp.

This perk could be a game changer for many employees and future employees out there as student debt can weigh very heavily on individuals. Andrew Josuweit, CEO and president of Student Loan Hero, a student-loan management site predicts student assistance will only grow in popularity for recent and soon to be grads. While a 401K is a nice perk, Josuweit said it’s not something Millennials should care about when starting their career. “Our advice is, let’s kill your student loans as fast as possible, then focus on building a retirement account.”

With an increasingly more competitive job market, student loan assistance is a new perk where everybody wins.