Death of the Company Dormitory?

[dimwit]

I can't really find any good reference for this hence I was wondering if this should be classified as news, but as I was off to work today I noticed that another company dormitory nearby was under the wrecking ball.

In Matsuyama, I have noticed for some time now that the number of company dorms are being torn down and sold for condos. However, in the last year the pace of this has greatly increased. As far as I know absolutely no new facilities have been built. In many cases, the dorms are old and seriously substandard eyesores so their loss is not exactly bothering anyone, but I can't find out if this is just a local trend of is it happening all over Japan.
Also I wondering how companies are housing their workers without the company dorms.

Anyone with any thoughts or good references?

[IkemenTommy]

A lot of the urban dormitories (sounds like college..) were built during the height of the bubble days hoping that the companies would grow and benefit their employees. Now that those days are over and corporate downsizing is the name of the game, companies have no choice but try to sell off their properties. However, the market shrunk and the property values dipped so they'd be lucky if they can get any remains of what they put into the buildings. A lot of companies are reluctant to let go of their dorms now.