Facebook will pay employees $10,000 if they move closer to its HQ

We live in a world where thousands of people can all work with each other for the same company without having to live anywhere near each other, and while Facebook has embraced this new way of working more than most companies, it’s generally better to have employees working close together. That’s why the company has decided to offer $10,000 to any employee that’s willing to move within ten miles of its headquarters. Menlo Park is one of the nicest cities in the country, and many people would be willing to move there on their own dime, so being paid to do so is definitely enticing. However, this move might end up being detrimental to the city itself for a variety of reasons. 

Facebook is reportedly offering employees up to $10,000 to live closer to the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California. As Reuters reports, Facebook started offering the bonus in the last year. To qualify, you have to buy or rent a home within 10 miles of Facebook’s headquarters. Some people with larger families can get up to $15,000. That sounds great in theory, but $10,000 isn’t exactly a windfall in the absurdly expensive San Francisco Bay Area. According to Zillow, the median home value in Menlo Park currently sits at $1.96 million, and it’s expected to go up 5.1 percent next year. “Our benefits at Facebook are designed to support our employees and the people who matter most to them at all stages of life,” a Facebook spokesperson told Reuters. There are plenty of ways that Facebook’s perk could backfire for both its workers and the local communities they might be interested in, however. First, there’s the obvious displacement that occurs when those earning significant salaries start moving into areas previously populated by low- or middle-income tenants or owners. There’s also the notion that when landlords realize they’re on a piece of hot property—especially anything within a 10-mile radius of Facebook—they might bump up the rent to extract more cash from those whose housing costs are being supplemented by their employers.