Google Houses Ireland

py2006

So apparently Google are interested in subsiding houses here in Ireland to do us a favour with out housing crisis. I assume its for employees only which they could probably hold them to ransom over.

Actually, its for affordable housing, so with the average Google salary being in or around 100,000 I hope its for those on far less.

Is this a good thing?

For some reason I can't access original article from phone.

20Wheel

At least someone has the will to fuking do something.

whisky_galore

Not a new thing, big employers in the 19th century built company houses because the only rental accom were crowded tenements with maybe a family all living in one room. Housing was fűcked back then too.

touts

py2006 wrote: »

So apparently Google are interested in subsiding houses here in Ireland to do us a favour with out housing crisis. I assume its for employees only which they could probably hold them to ransom over.

Actually, its for affordable housing, so with the average Google salary being in or around 100,000 I hope its for those on far less.

Is this a good thing?

For some reason I can't access original article from phone.

I'd say fair play to them. Hopefully it'll be a good perk for their employees. No doubt we'll have the cappachino-communists up in arms at the idea of working people getting something more than the socialist ideal of equal squalor for all. Hopefully other companies will follow Google's lead and we'll start to see subsidised housing becoming a common perk just like Private Pensions and Health Insurance (two things the cappachino-communists also despise).

Ush1

whisky_galore wrote: »

Not a new thing, big employers in the 19th century built company houses because the only rental accom were crowded tenements with maybe a family all living in one room.

Notably the Guinness flats.

JohnnyFlash

They could pay more tax in the countries they operate in.

Vita nova

It's a failure of government that it's come to the point where multinationals have to help build houses because of the accommodation crisis.

Nevertheless, kudos to Google for being prepared to do something.

py2006

But what happens if Google pull out of Ireland at some point in the future.

touts

py2006 wrote: »

But what happens if Google pull out of Ireland at some point in the future.

Then I assume their employees will lose the subsidised housing just like they will lose their pensions and health insurance. You go into these employment contracts fully aware that the perks only last as long as the employment lasts.

BrianBoru00

Google are not doing this for altruistic reasons.
Its financial - plain and simple. For the lower paid employees they get a subsidised rent and the value of the houses will likely be as stable or more as stocks /shares cash over the next 10-20 years.

banie01

py2006 wrote: »

So apparently Google are interested in subsiding houses here in Ireland to do us a favour with out housing crisis.

Subsiding and subsidising are quite different things!

I'd love a subsidized gaff!
If I can't afford a house now tho, how the feck would I afford fixing a subsiding one? :P

Badly Drunk Boy

whisky_galore wrote: »

Not a new thing, big employers in the 19th century built company houses because the only rental accom were crowded tenements with maybe a family all living in one room. Housing was fűcked back then too.

That was for low-paid workers. I'm sure the Google workers are better paid than an awful lot of other people in the country who are also looking for homes.

Google want Government involvement in this, so are they looking to subsidise homes that the Government will be providing, or do they want the Government to subsidise Google Homes™?

Anything that helps to house people can't be dismissed, though.

Vita nova

py2006 wrote: »

But what happens if Google pull out of Ireland at some point in the future.

Not sure what would happen but they won't be able to pull up the houses and take them with them

Yurt2

py2006 wrote: »

But what happens if Google pull out of Ireland at some point in the future.

A complete collapse in the artisanal donut and burrito trades. Mass unemployment among those with moustaches and lip rings.

py2006

Vita nova wrote: »

Not sure what would happen but they won't be able to pull up the houses and take them with them

I am sure they will give tenant option to buy off them.

dancingqueen

Companies like Google already help house their employees. They have spent over the odds on rental properties in Dublin to ensure that new employees moving into Ireland have somewhere to live. Surely this hasn't helped non-Google employees to find homes up to now so why is it OK for them to continue to do it? Accenture are another one. I know a few people who work there, and how the operate. Bringing young graduates from different European countries here with promises of a wonderful life to be met with long hours, bad salaries and expensive rents in the long run. It's always going to benefit the employer. This way the rest of Ireland still suffers to find homes. No win in my eyes.

Cordell

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

They could pay more tax in the countries they operate in.

That will mean less tax payed here.

Darranj85

Do Google employ that many here? I though a lot of the staff are vendors and contractors and not actually staff of Google?

So arent subject to perks etc

Vita nova

py2006 wrote: »

I am sure they will give tenant option to buy off them.

I think that would be the best approach, it would certainly be bad for PR not to give people that option while pulling out of a country.
In any case, the accommodation crisis is an immediate problem whereas if or when Google pull out the situation could be quite different.

jimgoose

I think it's a terrible idea, both from the perspective of increasing the amount of money chasing limited resources, and also from that of employers having way too much to do with employee's personal circumstances. But it does go to show how big a problem housing is starting to become.

Cordell

I think it makes a lot of sense financially: those fortunate Google employees on 100k will not have to fork more than half of their take home pay on renting near the office while Google can invest some of their profit in a tax effective way.