(Bloomberg) — Facebook wants to keep its workers close to theoffice, and it's willing to pay for it.

The social networking giant is offering workers $10,000 or moreto move within 10 miles of the company's Menlo Park, Calif.,headquarters, according to a report from Reuters on Thursday.

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It's a move that has the potential to entice employees to worklonger hours while easing the stresses caused by long commutes andthe San Francisco Bay area's staggering housing prices.

Facebook did not respond to an e-mail requestingcomment.

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Sounds great. Why don't more companies do it?

The simple answer has to do with taxes.

Unlike with retirement funds, say, where the government providesan explicit tax benefit for companies to pay for employee benefits, housing stipendscan be taxable for both the employer and employee, according toreport this summer from Bloomberg BNA (subscription required).

So employers operating in expensive housing markets havebecome accustomed to paying higher salaries, and lettingworkers decide how to spend the money.

The result is that while many employers have shouldered thecosts of relocating employees from one city to another, they'veless frequently helped employees pay for housing in cities wherethey already live.

Just 3 percent of companies offer to help their employees withdown payments on a home, according to a survey this year from theSociety for Human Resource Management.

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By comparison, 32 percent offered lump sums for relocation.

Employers that do help with housing have typically fallen into acouple of categories. Local governments have sometimes createdincentives to help municipal workers live in the neighborhoods theyserve, like the city of San Francisco, which announced plansearlier this year to spend up to $44 million over the next fiveyears to help teachers buy homes.

Academic institutions, like Washington University inSt. Louis, and hospital centers have also dabbled in housing.

“Instead of giving a full sign-on bonus to doctors, we've lookedat things like stipulating that some of the bonus has to be used onhousing,” said Dawn Lane, executive director of Las Vegas-basedHope Home Foundation, a nonprofit that helps companies designhousing benefits.

The idea holds particular appeal for medical institutions, whowant staff on hand to respond to emergencies, Lane said. “Withouttax credits, it's going to be hard for a lot of employers to getinvolved.”

The idea of paying for workers' homes lost momentum during therecession but may be gaining new steam, said Robin Snyderman, aprincipal at consulting firm Brick Partners.

The state of Illinois has long offered tax credits to employerswho invest in worker housing.

In January, New York Representative NydiaVelázquez introduced a bill in Congress that wouldprovide a 50 percent tax credit on employer dollars used to providerenter or down-payment assistance. Small businesses would get a 100percent credit under the plan.

Beyond federal legislation, there are other reasons housing asan employee benefit could see new popularity.

As American preferences bend toward urban living, companies haveincreasingly sought to move downtown. Housing benefits can helpemployees afford expensive areas, but they can also spurinvestments to revitalize downtrodden neighborhoods.

That's been the case in Detroit, where a group of downtownemployers including Quicken Loans have offered forgivable loans,rental assistance, and help paying for exterior renovations toemployees who live downtown.

“Most employers don't think of themselves having a role inhousing,” said Snyderman. “But it's also true that we're seeinganchor institutions committing to neighborhoods in interestingways.”

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