Executive corporate housing is typically apartment-style rental accommodations paid for by a company for the use of its employees. The apartment is often furnished and provisioned so the employee has the convenience of a hotel without the commercial feel. A company's stock of corporate housing can be short-term rentals arranged for a specific project or long-term rentals that are made available to executives on an ongoing basis.
Large companies often require employees to work long hours to accomplish business objectives. Professional corporations, for example, can have specific projects during the year that require an extraordinary effort on the part of staff to meet deadlines. In these instances, it is sometimes more efficient to cut out the time it would take an employee to commute home and back if his presence will be required again in a short amount of time or if he needs to remain close-by in case he is needed. Companies maintain executive corporate housing near their headquarters to allow employees to sleep and prepare for the next work shift without having to go home.
Some companies maintain executive corporate housing near their main offices for use by senior executives as a matter of course. This way, the choice to work late and spend the night in company housing need not be related to a specific deadline. The company apartments are provided as a convenience, much in the same way as car service home or meals are provided for employees who work past their normal hours. These conveniences are written off by the company as business expenses.
The other regular use of executive corporate housing is for temporary projects that will require substantial work at remote locations. For example, a major law firm that is defending a class action suit in a state where the firm does not have regular offices can secure corporate housing for its attorneys and support staff rather than putting them in hotels. This type of litigation ordinarily takes months to resolve, and corporate housing is often less expensive than using a hotel for a stay that exceeds two weeks. Additionally, employees often prefer accommodations that have kitchens and certain other features of permanent residency for extended stays away from home that are not offered by regular hotels.
Another common example of the use of executive corporate housing for temporary projects happens during audit season. Major accounting firms send teams of auditors to client offices that can be located anywhere in the world. These teams work non-stop to meet deadlines and complete the project. The firm often arranges for corporate housing for use by the team on a rotating basis so work can literally continue around-the-clock. Audits can take weeks or longer, and apartments tend to be preferred over hotel accommodations for convenience and expense.