In many companies in Metro Manila most of the employees live pretty far from their residences. Together with fellow workers, they rent a studio or a one bedroom apartment where they stay for the week, going home to their families only on weekends. Asked about the costs of this arrangement, they will tell you that the savings in transportation costs offset the rental fees. They are also able to reach the office still fresh compared to the tiredness and rigors of a long daily trip in a crowded bus to and from the office.
PERSONALITY QUIZ.(various; employee recruitment, retention and management): An article from: Journal of Property Management
There are not so obvious costs. The daily stress of worrying how the wife and the children are; the loneliness of a week-long separation, that due to office demands sometimes stretches to weeks; and weakened bonding between father and growing kids - all take their toll on the employee's mental well being. Being far from the responsibilities of home could also make the employee vulnerable to the temptations of drink, buddies and women.
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Here in the United States, there are companies that have seen the low-cost, high-reward link between home ownership, proximity to the job and a productive workforce. These companies assist in educating a worker on the ABC's of owning a home, helping them improve their credit ranking with information and guidance; and locate for them nearby, affordable communities with dependable public transportation.
Some of these companies will even undertake community improvement programs and assist the employees their down payments on the housing, and forgiving these loans if the employee stays for a certain period with the company.
The History of Geha: 40 Years of Housing Government Employees in Western Australia, 1966-2006
Local governments in the USA aware of the benefits of such company programs extend assistance. According to James Warren in Bloomberg Business week, non-profit Metropolitan Planning Council with System Sensor offered free real estate and credit counseling and a $5,000 down payment on a purchase with a loan write-off if the employee stayed with the company for five years, convinced Chicago to implement incentives for employers -a $5,000 state match for each home purchase and a tax credit of 50 cents on the dollar to employers on the down payment, counseling and administration. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the state of Louisiana matched 3 to 1 the $7,500 forgivable loan extended by Northrop Grumman to employees who bought a first home or replaced one destroyed.
Corporate response to employees' housing needs: A research report from the Conference Board's Division of Management Research (Conference Board report ; no. 676)
Some companies tie up the assistance with a particular advocacy. Loyola University in Chicago has a ''green initiative'' to cut dependence on cars. It extends assistance of up to $8,000 to those purchasing homes within walking distance of the university or near a specific Chicago mass transit line. Another health care company in Wisconsin wanting to improve urban neighborhoods of its owned hospitals provided $3,000 forgivable loans to around 400 employees.
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All these initiatives are worth considering for Metro Manila. A survey on the present addresses of the thousands of Makati employees especially the rank and file will show they do not live in Makati or their families are living elsewhere. The Makati government can put up low-cost condominiums with mini-parks and give subsidies to the private sector to do likewise, particularly in the parts of the city, ripe for urban renewal.
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While this will increase the city population with the corresponding pressure on infrastructure and social services, Makati's substantial revenues can afford it. More importantly, businesses, hopefully the small and medium stores in Makati will have continuing sales demand, translating into more revenues for Makati's coffers.
Employer-assisted housing still a tough sell: what's the advantage? Improved recruiting, higher morale and lower turnover.(Real Estate): An article from: San Diego Business Journal
In Quezon City, former Mayor Sonny Belmonte had bewailed that many of the graduates of the city's universities and colleges end up working in Makati or Manila. Mayor Herbert Bautista can draw more companies into the city by teaming up with them to have housing for their employees near their workplace.
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These companies will discover as many US companies have that those employees who get housing assistance are ''proving to be better-performing employees who chose to stay with the organization longer.''
Pacific Beacon to provide needed affordable housing to sailors: Navy partnering with Clark Realty on $322M, four-tower project.(STRUCTURES)(Clark Realty ... An article from: San Diego Business Journal
