Darbuotojai nori daugiau užmokesčio, o ne prestižo --- Dienos, kai imamasi geidžiamo darbo su pasigyrimo teisėmis, blėsta dėl infliacijos ir aukštų būsto kainų

     „Dėl prestižinio ankstyvos karjeros darbo sunku įveikti „Teach for America (angliškai) (Mokyk Amerikai (lietuviškai))“.

 

     Į programą paprastai priimama mažiau, nei 20 % stojančiųjų, todėl į ten taip sunku patekti, kaip į elitinį universitetą. Be to, prisijungimas prie TFA pedagogų būrio sunkumus patiriančiose mokyklose sukelia susižavėjimą už gerą darbą ir prieigą prie patyrusių absolventų tinklo. Tačiau šios ne pelno organizacijos gretos sumažėjo nuo maždaug 6 000 mokytojų prieš dešimtmetį iki maždaug 2 200 šiandien.

 

     Viena iš priežasčių išsiskiria: atlyginimas. „Teach for America“ pridėjo milijonus dolerių dotacijų, skirtų apytiksliai pasirašymo premijoms. Tai padėjo šio rudens grupei padidinti 38 %, palyginus su praėjusįu.

 

     Meilės ir pinigų traukimo metu grynieji pinigai šiuo metu labiau traukia. Nuo apskaitos firmų iki medicininių tyrimų laboratorijų – įmonės ir organizacijos, tradiciškai suviliojusios kandidatus pasigyrimo teisėmis, o ne didžiausiais pinigais, praranda talentus.

 

     Dėl infliacijos, būsto išlaidų, studentų skolų ir augančių palūkanų daugelis darbuotojų sako, kad prestižinės nuolaidos idėja – priimti mažiau pinigų už labai vertinamą darbą – yra tiesiog nepraktiška.

 

     Atlyginimas turi būti pagrindinis veiksnys, kai būsimi mokytojai gali uždirbti daug daugiau privačiame sektoriuje, sako „Teach for America“ vadovė Elisa Villanueva Beard. Tikslas: ataugti iki 3000–4000 mokytojų.

 

     „Mūsų konkurencija dėl neseniai baigusių koledžą yra technologijų įmonės ir konsultacinės grupės, kuriose jie galėtų uždirbti dvigubai“, – sako Villanueva Beard. "Per pastaruosius kelerius metus daug praradome. Kaip laimėti, kai žmonėms finansai yra labai svarbūs?"

 

     „Gallup“ ir „Pew Research Center“ apklausos rodo, kad kompensacijos, visada svarbios, priimant sprendimus dėl karjeros, pastaraisiais metais tapo dar svarbesniu, darbo ieškančių, asmenų prioritetu. Daugelis darbuotojų neapibrėžia savęs pagal savo pareigų pavadinimus, kaip tai darė prieš pandemiją, todėl jie neprieštarauja, kad dirbtų neįvardijamose įmonėse, jei tie darbdaviai sumoka, kad galėtų gyventi pilnesnį asmeninį gyvenimą.

 

     Vienas koledžo profesorius, prieš kelerius metus sumažinęs atlyginimą, kad peršoktų iš valstybinės mokyklos į Jeilį, man pasakė, kad nėra tikras, kad šiandien priimtų tokį patį sprendimą. 

 

Kiti priduria, kad prestižiniai darbai dažnai reikalauja ilgų valandų arba laiko nuo šeimos, todėl net šešiaženkliai atlyginimai gali jaustis nuolaida. 

 

Buvęs „Google“ inžinierius apibūdino, kad jautė, kad jis gavo geresnį atlyginimą, kai perėjo prie rizikos remiamo startuolio, nes valandiniu pagrindu uždirbo daugiau.

 

     Protinga kritinėmis akimis žiūrėti į bet kokį vaidmenį, kuris nepadidina jūsų vertės, sako Betsey Stevenson, buvusi JAV darbo departamento vyriausioji ekonomistė.

 

     „Prasminga sumažinti atlyginimą už prestižinį darbą tik tuo atveju, jei manote, kad galiausiai už tai jums bus mokama daugiau, nes bus lengviau lipti laiptais aukštyn“, – sako Stevensonas, dabar viešosios politikos ir ekonomikos profesorius Mičigano universitete.

 

     Tiek daug mokslininkų atsisako podoktorantūros stipendijų, kad Nacionaliniai sveikatos institutai subūrė darbo grupę įdarbinimo problemai spręsti. NIH finansuojamos postdokų pareigos atrodo įspūdingai gyvenimo aprašymuose, tačiau pirmųjų metų stipendijos siekia 56 484 dolerių, ty daug mažesnės, nei daugelis pramonės vaidmenų.

 

     "Biomedicinoje podoktorantai atlieka eksperimentus. Jie vysto pažangiausius mokslus", - sako Donna Ginther, Kanzaso universiteto ekonomistė, kuri yra NIH darbo grupės dalis. Ji priduria, kad postdokų trūkumas kelia grėsmę nacionaliniam medicininių tyrimų realizavimui.

 

     Bažnyčios ir sinagogos perspėja apie gresiantį dvasininkų trūkumą. Būti gerbiamas, kaip monsinjoras ar rabinas, dabar nepritraukia žmonių prie dieviško darbo, kaip anksčiau.

 

     Ir jei Dievui sunku, įsivaizduokite, kaip tai atrodo dėdei Semui. Valstybės tarnybos garbė nėra tokia patraukli, kaip kadaise, todėl federalinė vyriausybė siūlo geresnį atlyginimą ir išmokas, pvz., 20 000 dolerių, pasirašydama premijas už kai kuriuos sunkiai įveikiamus darbus JAV muitinėje ir sienų apsaugos tarnyboje.

 

     Netgi bankai ir konsultacinės įmonės, siurbiančios tokius talentus, kaip „Teach for America“, padidino atlyginimus, kad išliktų konkurencingi, nes vis daugiau darbuotojų aplenkia nusistovėjusius prekės ženklus, kad pasiektų geriausius pasiūlymus.

 

     Davisas Nguyenas, darbo treneris žmonėms, bandantiems įsitraukti į vadybos konsultacijas, sako, kad istoriškai daugelis kandidatų tenkintųsi mažesniais atlyginimais, jei jiems būtų pasiūlytos pareigos vienoje iš trijų žinomiausių firmų – McKinsey & Co., Boston Consulting Group ir Bain & Co. , kur jis dirbo.

 

     Nguyenas apskaičiavo, kad jo klientų, norinčių palikti pinigus dėl prestižinio darbo, dalis per pastaruosius trejus metus sumažėjo iki maždaug 30 proc. Dauguma prisijungtų prie mažiau žinomo konsultavimo verslo arba įsidarbintų kitoje srityje už 25 000–35 000 dolerių daugiau.

 

     „Kartais jie praranda puikius talentus, nes negali pasiūlyti daugiau“, – apie aukščiausio lygio įmones sako jis.

 

     Avani Desai pasijuto keistai, kai 2012 m. pasitraukė iš direktoriaus pareigų KPMG. Jos vaidmuo „Big Four“ apskaitos įmonėje buvo sėkmės ženklas, ir ji tikėjo, kad nori tapti partnere.

 

     Tačiau ji matė aukštesnes lubas Schellman, daug mažesnėje buhalterinėje (CPA) įmonėje, įsikūrusioje Tampoje, Fla., kuriai tuo metu buvo 10 metų. Ją taip pat patraukė galimybė dirbti iš namų, nes per pirmuosius jos sūnaus gyvenimo metus tik 52 dienas praleido su sūnumi dėl su darbu susijusių kelionių. Desai prisijungė prie Schellman, kaip vykdomoji viceprezidentė ir 2021 m. tapo generaline direktore.

 

     „Tai buvo strateginis žingsnis, siekiant maksimaliai padidinti mano karjeros augimą ir profesinį indėlį bei maksimaliai padidinti mano finansinį potencialą, laikui bėgant“, – sako ji.

 

     Desai pastebi, kad panašūs sprendimai dabar yra dažnesni jos bendraamžiams ir – jos, kaip viršininkės, džiaugsmui – žmonėms, kuriuos ji įdarbina. Ji sako, kad puikaus atlyginimo ir didesnio lankstumo derinys padėjo jai pervilioti žmones iš geriau žinomų kompanijų, įskaitant „Microsoft“ ir „Amazon“, ir samdyti darbuotojus, kurie anksčiau nebūtų net pagalvoję apie jos įmonę." [1]

1. On the Clock: Workers Want More Pay, Not Prestige --- The days of taking a coveted job with bragging rights are fading in the face of inflation and high housing prices. Borchers, Callum.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 02 Nov 2023: A.12.  

Workers Want More Pay, Not Prestige --- The days of taking a coveted job with bragging rights are fading in the face of inflation and high housing prices.

"For a prestigious early-career job, it's hard to beat Teach for America.

The program typically admits less than 20% of applicants, giving it the hard-to-get-into cachet of an elite university. Plus joining TFA's corps of educators in struggling schools brings admiration for doing good along with access to a network of accomplished alumni. Yet the nonprofit's ranks have dwindled from roughly 6,000 teachers a decade ago to about 2,200 today.

One reason stands out: pay. Teach for America has added millions of dollars in grants to approximate signing bonuses. This helped make this fall's cohort 38% larger than the last.

In the tug of war between love and money, cash has more pull right now. From accounting firms to medical research labs, businesses and organizations that have traditionally wooed candidates with bragging rights instead of the biggest bucks are losing out on talent.

Inflation, housing costs, student debt and rising interest rates have many workers saying the idea of a prestige discount -- accepting less money for a job that is highly regarded -- is simply impractical.

Pay has to be a major factor when would-be teachers can make considerably more in the private sector, says Teach for America Chief Executive Elisa Villanueva Beard. The goal: regrowing to between 3,000 and 4,000 teachers.

"Our competition for recent college grads is tech companies and consulting groups where they could be making double," says Villanueva Beard. "We've lost a lot in the last few years. How do you win when finances are a big deal for folks?"

Surveys by Gallup and the Pew Research Center show that compensation, always a key piece of career decisions, has become an even higher priority for job seekers in recent years. Many workers don't define themselves by their job titles like they did before the pandemic, so they don't mind working for no-name companies if those employers pay up so they can have fuller personal lives.

One college professor who took a pay cut to jump from a state school to Yale several years ago told me he's not so sure he would make the same decision today. Others add that prestigious jobs often demand long hours or time away from family, which can make even six-figure salaries feel discounted. A former Google engineer described feeling like he got a raise when he made a lateral move to a venture-backed startup because he earned more on an hourly basis.

It's smart to look with critical eyes at any role that doesn't maximize your worth, says Betsey Stevenson, former chief economist of the U.S. Labor Department.

"It only makes sense to take a pay cut for a prestigious job if you think it's going to ultimately pay you more down the line by facilitating a faster climb up the ladder," says Stevenson, now a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan.

So many scientists are snubbing postdoctoral fellowships that the National Institutes of Health has convened a working group to address the recruitment problem. NIH-funded postdoc positions look impressive on resumes but come with first-year stipends of $56,484, far less than many industry roles.

"In biomedicine, postdocs are running the experiments. They're doing the cutting-edge science," says Donna Ginther, a University of Kansas economist who is part of the NIH working group. A postdoc shortage threatens the national pipeline of medical research, she adds.

Churches and synagogues are warning of a looming clergy shortage. Being revered as a reverend or rabbi isn't drawing people to divine work like it used to.

And if God is having a hard time, imagine what it's like for Uncle Sam. The honor of public service isn't the draw that it once was, so the federal government is dangling better pay and benefits, such as $20,000 signing bonuses for some hard-to-fill jobs with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Even blue-chip banks and consulting firms that siphon talent from the likes of Teach for America have boosted salaries to remain competitive, as more workers look past established brands to reach for the top bids.

Davis Nguyen, a job coach for people trying to break into management consulting, says historically many candidates would settle for lower salaries if offered positions at one of the three best-known firms, McKinsey & Co., Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Co., where he worked.

Nguyen estimates the share of his clients who are willing to leave money on the table for a prestigious job has declined to about 30% during the past three years. Most would join a lesser-known consulting business or take a job in a different field for $25,000 to $35,000 more.

"Sometimes they lose out on great talent because they can't offer more," he says of the top-tier companies.

Avani Desai felt like an oddity when she walked away from a director-level position at KPMG in 2012. Her role at a Big Four accounting firm was a mark of success, and she believed she was on track to make partner.

Yet she saw a higher ceiling at Schellman, a much smaller CPA firm based in Tampa, Fla., that was 10 years old at the time. She also was drawn to the option to work from home, having spent 52 days with her then-infant son during the first year of his life because of work-related travel. Desai joined Schellman as an executive vice president and became CEO in 2021.

"This was a strategic move at maximizing my career growth and professional contributions, and maximizing what my financial potential was going to be over time," she says.

Desai notices similar decisions are now more common for her peers and -- to her delight as a boss -- for the people she recruits, too. She says the combination of great pay and more flexibility has helped her poach from better-known companies, including Microsoft and Amazon, landing hires who wouldn't have considered her company in the past." [1]

1. On the Clock: Workers Want More Pay, Not Prestige --- The days of taking a coveted job with bragging rights are fading in the face of inflation and high housing prices. Borchers, Callum.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 02 Nov 2023: A.12.   

Companies Looking for Solutions to Protect Intellectual Property: Consulting and Compensation

   "This year, 964 companies - 14% more than last year - applied for funding to protect their intellectual property. The State Patent Office (VPB), which also started providing free expert consultations, notices that businesses understand the importance of protecting intellectual property, but do not necessarily know how to do it. 

 

     Since September, VPB has started providing a new free consultation service for business companies, scientific institutions and the public. Consultations on intellectual property issues are provided by VPB specialists, as well as patent attorneys and lawyers. 30 minutes duration consultations take place remotely, on the Microsoft Teams platform.

 

     According to VŽ, VPB provided 16 free consultations in September-October. Until now, businesses could consult with VPB and experts from other institutions on matters of intellectual property protection. in 2022 more than 3,300 such consultations were provided, this year until September – 3,110.

 

     According to Irina Urbonė, director of VPB, creators of intellectual property have general knowledge, but they lack information about solutions necessary when faced with very specific aspects of intellectual property protection.

 

     "For this reason, a team of professionals was assembled who know the intricacies of the protection of designs, trademarks, inventions or the peculiarities of the public sector, can advise on the protection of intellectual property objects, follow global market trends and provide such consultations free of charge," I. Urbonė is quoted as saying in the report.

 

     In consultations, experts are usually asked how to properly protect a trademark, design or invention before starting commercial activities abroad, what to do after receiving a claim regarding the used trademark, what steps to take if the rights to existing intellectual property have been violated. Also, what must be done before registering a trademark, design or patenting an invention.

 

     Encouraging support

 

     Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are also more actively looking for opportunities to protect the intellectual property they have created - to register trademarks, designs or patents and recover part of the incurred costs.

 

     "Businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to protect their intellectual property are encouraged by EU support, where SMEs can recover up to 75% of the costs of registering and patenting intellectual property, as well as by growing business awareness and understanding that properly protected intellectual property provides not only assurance, that competitors will not appropriate it, but also the fact that it can bring additional income to the company by employing intellectual property on the basis of licenses or franchises", - points out to VŽ Aistė Blaževičienė, representative of the SME project at VPB.

 

     The EU Intellectual Property Office (ESINT) together with the European Commission is implementing the "Small and Medium Enterprises Fund Project". Under it, a business can receive compensation and recover part of the costs incurred in registering intellectual property objects.

 

     As indicated by VŽ VPB, the project support is provided under 4 checks: check 1 – intellectual property identification service (“IP Scan” [1]), check 2 – trademarks and designs, check 3 – patents, check 4 – electronic registration of Community plant varieties applications are submitted in this way.

     VPB information.

 

     Lithuanian SMEs this year from January 23 until October 27 submitted 361 applications for check 1 - "IP Scan" service and 950 applications for check 2 - trademarks and designs, when up to EUR 1,000 is compensated for incurred expenses.

 

     "Compared to the same period last year, we want to celebrate the activity of Lithuanian SMEs: 964 companies have submitted applications to receive checks. According to this indicator, there are 14% more companies than last year - 832 SMEs", VŽ indicates to VPB."

 

 

1. What is IP Scan

 

"Identify your intellectual property (IP) and learn how to incorporate an IP strategy into your company’s business plans.

Protecting your IP is the only legal way to avoid having your unique ideas, products, or services copied or used without permission.

An IP Scan puts you directly in contact with an IP expert designated by your national IP office. They will work with you to review your business model, products/services, and growth plans.

Together, you'll figure out what intangible assets to protect and in what way your IP can help your business grow. IP Scan isn’t a legal service. It is meant to guide you on how to register and capitalise your IP, now and in the future.”

Įmonės ieško sprendimų apsaugoti intelektinę nuosavybę: konsultacijos ir kompensacijos

"Šiemet 964 bendrovės – 14% daugiau, negu praėjusiais metais – kreipėsi finansavimo apsaugoti savo intelektinei nuosavybei. Valstybinis patentų biuras (VPB), pradėjęs teikti ir nemokamas ekspertų konsultacijas, pastebi, kad verslas supranta intelektinės nuosavybės apsaugos reikšmę, bet nebūtinai žino, kaip konkrečiai tą padaryti.

Nuo rugsėjo VPB pradėjo teikti naują nemokamų konsultacijų paslaugą verslo įmonėms, mokslo įstaigoms ir visuomenei. Konsultacijas intelektinės nuosavybės klausimais teikia VPB specialistai, ir patentiniai patikėtiniai, advokatai. 30 min. trukmės konsultacijos vyksta nuotoliniu būdu, „Microsoft Teams“ platformoje.

Kaip VŽ nurodo VPB, rugsėjo – spalio mėnesiais suteikta 16 nemokamų konsultacijų. Iki šiol verslas intelektinės nuosavybės apsaugos klausimais galėjo konsultuotis su VPB ir kitų institucijų ekspertais. 2022 m. suteikta per 3.300 tokių konsultacijų, šiemet iki rugsėjo – 3.110.

Irinos Urbonės, VPB direktorės, teigimu, intelektinės nuosavybės kūrėjai turi bendrųjų žinių, bet jiems trūksta informacijos apie sprendimus, būtinus susidūrus su itin konkrečiais intelektinės nuosavybės apsaugos aspektais.

„Dėl šios priežasties buvo suburta profesionalų komanda, kuri žino dizaino, prekių ženklų, išradimų apsaugos subtilybes ar viešojo sektoriaus ypatumus, gali patarti intelektinės nuosavybės objektų apsaugos klausimais, seka pasaulines rinkos tendencijas bei teikia tokias konsultacijas nemokamai“, – pranešime cituojama I. Urbonė.

Konsultacijose ekspertų dažniausiai klausiama, kaip tinkamai apsaugoti prekių ženklą, dizainą ar išradimą, prieš pradedant komercinę veiklą užsienyje, ką daryti gavus pretenziją dėl naudojamo prekių ženklo, kokių veiksmų imtis, jeigu buvo pažeistos teisės į turimą intelektinę nuosavybę. Taip pat – ką būtina padaryti, prieš registruojant prekių ženklą, dizainą ar patentuojant išradimą.

Skatina parama

Mažos ir vidutinės įmonės (MVĮ) taip pat aktyviau ieško galimybių apsaugoti savo sukurtą intelektinę nuosavybę – užregistruoti prekių ženklus, dizainą, ar patentą ir susigrąžinti dalį patirtų išlaidų.

„Verslą, ypač mažas ir vidutines įmones, apsaugoti savo intelektinę nuosavybę skatina ES parama, kai MVĮ gali susigrąžinti iki 75% intelektinės nuosavybės registravimo ir patentavimo išlaidų, taip pat vis didėjantis verslo sąmoningumas ir supratimas, kad tinkamai apsaugota intelektinė nuosavybė suteikia ne tik užtikrintumą, kad konkurentai jos nepasisavins, bet ir tai, kad ji gali atnešti įmonei papildomų pajamų, įdarbinant intelektinę nuosavybę licencijų ar franšizės pagrindu“, – VŽ nurodo Aistė Blaževičienė, MVĮ projekto atstovė VPB.

ES intelektinės nuosavybės tarnyba (ESINT) kartu su Europos Komisija įgyvendina „Mažų ir vidutinių įmonių fondo projektą“. Pagal jį verslas gali gauti kompensaciją ir susigrąžinti dalį išlaidų, kurių patyrė registruojant intelektinės nuosavybės objektus.

Kaip VŽ nurodo VPB, projekto parama yra teikiama pagal 4 čekius: čekio 1 – intelektinės nuosavybės nustatymo paslaugos („IP Scan“ [1]), čekio 2 – prekių ženklų ir dizaino, čekio 3 – patentų, čekio 4 – Bendrijos augalų veislių elektroniniu būdu teikiamos paraiškos. 2023 m. lapkričio 10 d. numatoma „IP Scan“, prekių ženklų, dizaino paraiškų čekiui gauti priėmimo pabaiga.

 

VPB informacija.

Lietuvos MVĮ šiemet nuo sausio 23 d. iki spalio 27 d. pateikė 361 paraišką čekiui 1 – „IP Scan“ paslaugai ir 950 paraiškų čekiui 2 – prekių ženklų ir dizaino, kai kompensuojama iki 1.000 Eur už patirtas išlaidas.

„Lyginant su tuo pačiu laikotarpiu praėjusiais metais, norime pasidžiaugti Lietuvos MVĮ aktyvumu: 964 įmonės yra pateikusios paraiškas čekiams gauti. Pagal šį rodiklį, tai 14% daugiau įmonių negu praėjusiais metais – 832 MVĮ“, – VŽ nurodo VPB.” 

1. Kas yra IP Scan

“Nustatykite savo intelektinę nuosavybę (IP) ir sužinokite, kaip įtraukti IP strategiją į savo įmonės verslo planus. IP apsauga yra vienintelis teisėtas būdas išvengti jūsų unikalių idėjų, produktų ar paslaugų kopijavimo ar naudojimo be leidimo. IP Scan leidžia tiesiogiai susisiekti su jūsų nacionalinės IP tarnybos paskirtu IP ekspertu. Jie kartu su jumis peržiūrės jūsų verslo modelį, produktus / paslaugas ir augimo planus. Kartu išsiaiškinsite, kokį nematerialųjį turtą apsaugoti ir kokiu būdu jūsų IP gali padėti jūsų verslui augti. IP Scan nėra teisinė paslauga. Ji skirta padėti jums užsiregistruoti ir panaudoti savo IP dabar ir ateityje."

Real Estate Taxes Are Needed to Squeeze Us Lithuanians Out of Lithuania, Like a Pit From a Ripe Cherry

 

 

Thanks to those taxes rent in places where there are jobs in Lithuania will become more expensive, so much so that we will not be able to live in Lithuania with Lithuanian salaries. This is your Western Europe for you, dear lady...

 

    

"What will happen to the Vilnius real estate market?

 

     "Everything will be fine," Arvydas Avulis, Hanner's board chairman, repeated several times. "It's not difficult for him to talk," someone in the audience might say, and they'd be right, too.

 

     Where that market will move, I found out even before the pandemic at one of the real estate and investment conferences held in Warsaw.

 

     At that time it seemed: Why? Why do we not yet have funds investing in such segments as co-living or student dormitories in Lithuania? Yes, of course there were funds in general investing in different asset classes, but in this case I am talking specifically about co-living and student accommodation. After three (difficult) years, the pandemic and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, we can still see the result in our country. Funds and real estate developers seem to have dived headlong into co-living and student dormitories.

 

     While visiting the aforementioned conference and in Poland, I had the opportunity to talk with several fund managers, some of whom were not only engaged in investing, but also had a real estate management company. Someone (very logically) might ask: what is the real estate management company for the fund (vs. to focus on the core business)? I think the answer is simple: Excel looks better when you do everything internally and spend less vs. passing it on to the rental administrator.

 

     This is a tip for other rental managers (like us at Houseys) that the fund, and the real estate developer, will never be fine with your offer. Because the most important thing is excel, and it looks best simply by paying a salary to a manager or a few who take care of the rent administration.

 

     But I return to what is happening and what will happen to the Vilnius real estate market - I am talking about the apartment rental category. The competition here will only increase, as institutional capital, funds and real estate developers continue to successfully enter it. They offer/will offer various products: co-living, long-term rental, maybe even short-term. With the latter "most of the difficulty", it is not a fact that we will see something from the big players doing it. But the market is so small that developers will likely want to take a slice of the short-term rental segment as well.

 

     In the long-term rental market, individual landlords already compete with institutional capital, real estate developers - entire positions on the main portal of the country are occupied by advertisements of apartments for rent by real estate developers, and the spaces between those positions are also filled with advertisements of their rental apartments.

 

     It will be more and more difficult for so-called retail investors with one to several/dozen apartments, and then the need and importance of rental (long-term, short-term) administrators will increase.

 

     In Western Europe or America, everything has already been implemented - it is enough to look, follow what is happening there and it will be clear what will happen in Vilnius, Lithuania. And a lot of things are happening that are unfavorable for retail investors (understand, ordinary people) - from the regulation of the rental market to tax changes.

 

     And here Lithuania also wants to appear: it is better not to even talk about the planned real estate tax - it seems that the lobbyists of real estate developers, funds and hotels will definitely have the opportunity to pop champagne.

 

     Without getting too involved in political mudslinging, it is quite obvious what is happening: in the public eye, and especially behind the scenes, the trend is towards the fact that owning real estate is becoming more and more unattractive. In the tax sense. The return is heavily taxed and continues to be taxed, and that low rate of return is OK for funds. What's next? Even more convenience for various funds to navigate the market, even lower returns for retail investors. It's neither good nor bad - it's just the Western Europe we've been wanting.

 

     At the same time, Western European and American lobbyists, unfortunately, are successfully pushing their way through various restrictions on the short-term rental market. This will also come to Lithuania - especially since we have a strong Association of Hotels and Restaurants. And the real estate tax is a "good" start.

 

     The good news (probably) is that the purpose of hotels that previously sounded unattractive will become attractive. Having hotel-oriented real estate for short-term rentals will at least provide some reassurance against looming restrictions on short-term rentals and a real estate tax that does not appear to apply to other uses.

 

     Of course, there are questions here: will there be ambiguities when hotels, as one property unit of hotel purpose, are converted into many property units of hotel purpose, etc. Wait-and-see.

 

     We want to believe that: the city, together with real estate developers, will find the most suitable solutions for the conversion and adaptation of old hotels and buildings to modern times. However, at least for the time being, real estate developers planning and building hotel apartment buildings seem to be simply bypassing one or another of the requirements. And so. Again, it looks better in excel.

 

     Investors will increasingly look at it as exactly investing: an activity that does not include going to "Senukai" and handing over the rent administration to a relative, because "what are you going to do there". In this place, it is good that institutional capital is coming to the apartment rental market - it is becoming more professional.

 

     There will be products where the real estate investor/buyer gets everything: not only a fully furnished and ready-to-rent real estate, but also return calculations, professional rental administration, maybe even tax, legal entity formation consulting/service.

 

     So, what will happen to the Vilnius real estate market?

 

     Competition will increase strongly, apartments will be rented by real estate developers and investment funds, whose objects are presented not only in ordinary advertisements, but also by investing in advertising.

 

     Developers and funds will respond to the changing trends of the rental and accommodation market: rapidly developing co-living spaces - super compact living spaces with various common areas.

 

     For some time now, students have had the option of living in new and ultra-modern spaces, in contrast to Antakalnis apartments that have not seen for many years any repairs, except for cosmetic ones. It is likely that we will see even more: serviced apartments, where various additional services are also offered, such as laundry, ironing, housekeeping, etc.

 

     The trend of hotel conversion and "hotel" development will emerge and spread.

 

     Even more taxes and regulation. Both in Vilnius and Europe. I suggest that you set your mind and do the math. Real estate developers and investment funds are not afraid of a few percent return, while retail investors will have to accept it.

 

     The importance of rental administrators and data will increase. Why? Because rental administrators are not only tenant finders (long-term rental) or management service providers (short-term rental), but also data aggregators. Already now, when administering short-term rentals, we can say quite precisely what kind of income one or another object in the ads can generate. Investment decisions can be made based on real numbers, not just a gut feeling or someone's story.

 

     The good thing is that the market has become more transparent and will continue to be more transparent, people will understand more and more the essence of investing and that it does not necessarily consist of doing everything yourself. Various services such as "Rent to buy" appear and will probably continue to appear, and Vilnius seems to have a chance to enter the first place in the TOP three of the three Baltic countries.

 

     The author of the comment is Tomas Grižas, manager and co-founder of the rental administration platform Houseys."