Employee-Owned Firms in the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the midst of the pandemic, companies that are owned by their employees are dramatically outperforming other firms in such key areas as securing employees’ jobs, and maintaining work hours, salary, and workplace health and safety. Those are the findings of a new study conducted by Rutgers University and SSRS, and funded by the Employee Ownership Foundation.

Some of the study’s key findings show that, compared to other businesses, employee owned firms were:

• 3-4 times more likely to retain non-manager and manager employees.
• 3.2 times more likely to retain staff—even when other businesses received funding through the Paycheck Protection Program and the employee owned firms did not.
• Significantly less likely to reduce employees’ hours or pay.
• More likely to send employees home to work during the pandemic—and did so earlier.
• More likely to provide employees with personal protective equipment, such as gloves and masks.

From an economic perspective, employee owned businesses “kept considerably more money in employees’ hands—and in the economy” than other firms, the study finds.

Click here for the full report of the findings.    

See our mention in the New York Times from 10/23/2020 and share a tweet!