MyTown has doubled up its corporate clientele by 70% percent and continued to expand its product offering over the last 18 months since the pandemic started, as corporations increasingly see co-living spaces as essential and safe accommodation.

Essential Business

Hard lockdowns and frequent changes in quarantine levels present both challenges in forecasting business operations as well as constraints in mobility for many employees who commute to their places of work. Other companies face issues due to the lack of residential connectivity infrastructure that prevents productive work-from-home set-ups.

“The global pandemic has seen corporations embracing worker accommodation as a cornerstone of business continuity plans, employee engagement, and staff health and wellness. Having an affordable living solution where living, working and playing are available within walking distance has become critical in a world where mobility is heavily constrained,” Jelmer Ikink, Co-founder and Group Director for Philippines Urban Living Solutions, which owns co-living brand MyTown, said.

MyTown’s key corporate clients were able to implement their Business Continuity Plans (BCPs) by leasing units and office space from MyTown’s portfolio of 18 sites. “We receive frequent feedback from our clients that we both help their employees keep their work-life balance in check and at the same time increase continuity of business operations,” Reigine Banaag, Head of Marketing at MyTown, said.

To cater to its tenants’ changing work needs, MyTown opened its ‘worklab’ spaces 24/7. It is also installing fully fitted out micro-offices for SMEs and other corporate clients, and worked with internet providers to offer faster internet connections so tenants can work efficiently and perform video calls with colleagues, family and friends. It also rolled out more cashless payment methods through its MyTown mobile app, and shifted from face-to-face to virtual events.

Safe Accommodation

Both employers and employees have increasingly become conscious of the importance around the health and well-being of the workforce. The coronavirus pandemic has reinforced the responsibility of both parties to ensure that they help reduce the risk of community infections.

A study MyTown co-authored with INSEAD in 2020 stated that implementing safety and health best-practices in co-living spaces and avoiding young professionals’ daily commutes in cramped and enclosed public transportation can reduce the number of people one is in contact with by up to 98 percent. It also sponsored a vaccine drive for its employees, resulting in all eligible employees being vaccinated as of mid-July, which protects tenants, staff, and the wider community.

MyTown’s data confirm that these rigorous safety and health protocols work as its coronavirus cases per capita percentage is more than 14 times lower than the NCR and Philippine average.

“We have worked with health and industry experts around the globe to implement health and safety best-practices in our premises, which ensure that education, mitigation, preparation and communication measures are in place at all times. The pandemic has taught everyone the value of health, resilience, and adaptability. MyTown has an unwavering commitment to the safety of its tenants and employees and it will remain to be so even after the threat of COVID-19,” Ikink said.