h a l f b a k e r yRomantic, but doomed to fail.
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Many large companies own large parts of or own entire
high-rise buildings. Of a building with 50 floors, for
example, 5 floors could be used for restaurants, mail,
lobby, etc., 20 floors could be used for working/offices
and
the like, 25 floors for medium sized apartments for
employees of
the company (starting at relatively bare-
bones and getting better as the employee climbs the
metaphorical "ladder of success"). Too often hard
working
employees of faceless companies have terrible housing
just because they are low on the corporate ladder.
Providing housing inside the building would eliminate
this
problem, as the employees manager/superior would be
able to put the employee up for an "upgrade", so to
speak,
such as a nicer bed for free, or a computer for use in
his/her apartment. It would also make employees more
accountable, perhaps with an intercom to their
immediate
superior in each apartment. If an employee was sick, he
could intercom to his superior, who would send someone
down to make sure he/she was actually sick. If an
employee was late, they would need a good reason and
would be accountable, but would also not need to have a
long or stressful commute every day, instead taking one
of
the high speed elevators on his/her floor. Traffic on the
roads would be a non-issue, an lateness would be 10
minutes instead of an hour. In many facets, I personally
believe that this could vastly increase the efficiency of
many companies and increase the living conditions of
workers.
[link]
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"If an employee was sick, he could intercom to his superior, who would send someone down to make sure he/she was actually sick." |
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[-] for this portion of the idea, although it has some meritorious aspects. |
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Rebirth of the company town. |
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Welcome to China. Or an old mining town. |
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I dislike the paternalistic "company town" embelishements
but I could go for a stripped-down version:
Companies with "prestige" "flagship" "iconic" headquarters
buildings whose square feet couldn't all be rented at a profit,
might offer some floors as living space, as an employee perk:
the equivalent monetary value to the employees would be
greater than the monetary cost to the employer. A small
step towards an arcology. |
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Is it a new idea though? Way back in time, people commanding large workforces have provided housing for them. What's new here? |
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It certainly makes sense to more efficiently situate your workforce close to their place of work - it saves in all that expensive mass-transit infrastructure - this much is pretty obvious - and has been done before - lots of times before - what's new here? |
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How do you overcome the company's natural reticence to be tied to their employees? If it's recession time, and a company wants to shed a few additional employees, how much more difficult would it be to, rather than just tell them not to come in tomorrow, but to also evict them aswell? Too much hassle. And so, the companies that provide all this employment have the luxury of letting their staff deal with the problem of getting in to work. Fair enough? |
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This just might work... and especially if the employees are paid in a company currency that is used to buy things at the stores, to send mail, and to pay rent in the apartments. |
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[mouse], In the world of the unwritten rules of the corporate ladder, living in such an 'optional' apartment space would not truly be optional. |
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I could almost see this working as an _additional_ space for some employees, if a company was willing to switch from a five-day week to a four-day week (of ten hour days). Like the old 'bachelor apartments'. The empolyees wouldn't live there full-time; they would commute in on Monday morning, have a minimal sleeping/bathing space and use it to sleep on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night, and then commute back to their regular home on Thursday evening. |
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This just might work... but spouses and children who do not work for the company might not appreciate it all that much. |
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I used to live a bit like that, fly somewhere at 7am Monday morning, work during the week while staying somewhere conveniently around the corner, eat out every night, find other like-lifestyled folks and go drinking with them, then head back "home" on Friday night for an increasingly alienating experience with friends back home - it doesn't make for a happy/healthy life. |
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[RayfordSteele] I know so little about the unwritten rules of
the corporate ladder. Thank God. |
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