From a company perspective, it saves any operator a fortune in training costs and as there seems to be no shortage of pilots who happily agree to pay for their endorsements, why would a company not take advantage of this and invest the significant funds it saves in training costs into other capital and company expansion.
In my opinion, any company that cannot afford training costs is obviously not charging enough for their services. Training is an expense that will always be associated with running a business, whether it be an aviation charter company, an IT company or whatever. It WILL affect the company's bottom line and should be accounted for accordingly in pricing.
I have never paid for an endorsement apart from my initial multi. I have recently signed a bond for a rather substantial amount of time and money, but of course it is a fair option. No pilot should ever object to signing a bond if he/she is committed to the task.
Perhaps if your boss says "Hey
ginjockey, if you go get yourself a Metro endorsement I'll make you an F/O and looks like you could be a skipper in a year", why not reply with "Ok boss, how about you pay for my endorsement and I'll give you that year's service (and more)".
It's a win win situation. He's got your employment for another year or more, and you've got your endorsement without being out of pocket. In a year's time you're not as likely to leave are you, because you're now a Captain.
And finally, don't forget what the award says folks :
19.1 Where the employer requires a pilot to reach and maintain minimum qualifications for a particular aircraft type...all facilities and other costs associated with attaining and maintaining those qualifications will be the responsibility of the employer.
That means all renewals, endorsements, recency etc. There are operators out there who do this and they are the ones who have been operating for years and remain financially viable.
TL