Chinese company offers employees free apartments for five years

CHINA: A Chinese company has proposed a plan to give its employees free apartments for five years if they stay and work hard, which has caused quite a stir among social media users.

The company said that a total of 18 apartments will be given to employees over the course of three years.

According to the South China Morning Post, it is a technology company located in Wenzhou, Jiangxi Province, South China, which specializes in automotive fastener products. The company has more than 450 employees and announced an output of 490 million yuan (about 70 million US dollars) in 2024.

Speaking to the media, the company’s general manager Wang Jiayuan said that there are a large number of workers in Wenzhou, so the company aims to reward and retain skilled technical and managerial staff.

He said that this year we have given out five apartments. Next year, we plan to distribute eight more, while the plan is to give out a total of 18 apartments in three years. “Our goal is clear: to attract the best talent and retain our core management team,” he said.

All the flats are located within five kilometers of the company and are between 100 and 150 square meters in size. The average price of second-hand houses in the area is 7,000 to 8,500 yuan (about 990 to 1200 U.S. dollars) per square meter. A married couple who work for the same company have already been given a 144-square-meter flat.

Employees are required to sign a housing contract and move in after the company completes the renovation. After five years of service, the flat is formally transferred to the employee, who has to repay the renovation costs to the company.

Wang Jiayuan said the company has already acquired 18 flats and has invested more than 10 million yuan. Two of the five homes awarded this year were given to employees who had advanced from entry-level positions to management.

Wang stressed that these positions require high skills and that new graduates cannot master them immediately, but rather require time and experience. He said that the purpose of granting such benefits is to reduce operational costs and improve quality management.