Synchrony offers debt-free trade degrees to Home Depot associates

Synchrony is giving eligible U.S. employees a debt-free associate degree after just three months of service, with paths through community and technical colleges in HVAC, electrical, plumbing and welding. The move, announced at the company’s Women in the Trades forum, gives workers a direct route into the skilled trades at a time when employers are still short on labor.

For Home Depot associates, the offer lands in familiar territory. Home Depot’s business is built around serving contractors, remodelers and other pros, so a program that moves workers from store jobs into HVAC, electrical, plumbing or welding after three months gives associates a clearer and cheaper way into the trades they talk about every day.

Synchrony said nearly 500,000 skilled trade jobs are unfilled in the United States today, and another 2.1 million positions could go unfilled by 2030. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 649,300 annual openings in construction and extraction occupations from 2024 to 2034, with a median annual wage of $58,360 in May 2024, numbers that show why trade careers remain a middle-class path with steady demand.

The company said the program is part of its Education as an Equalizer effort and can support roles in data center operations and advanced mechanics, not just residential repair work. That broadens the value of the program beyond a single jobsite, especially in an economy where trades skills now touch infrastructure, logistics and specialized maintenance as much as home improvement.

Synchrony also said its foundation has donated $150,000 to Women in HVACR and nearly $1 million to skilled trade programs nationwide since 2021. The Women in the Trades forum, held at Synchrony’s Cincinnati-West Chester office in West Chester, Ohio, brought together dozens of women leaders to focus on mentorship, board-level training and leadership development.

Jane Sidebottom, president of Women in HVACR, said, “Synchrony’s tuition program and scholarship support are investments needed to help more people, including women, enter high-demand trade careers.” For Home Depot workers weighing whether to stay on the retail side of the business or move into the trades, the message is clear: another employer is now offering a faster, debt-free path into the skilled work that drives the pro economy.