In recent decades, workers’ paychecks have remained stagnant, despite increases in productivity. At the same time, returns to wealth have increased. Strategies that transform workers into owners, such as employee share ownership strategies, have the potential to give working people a stake in our growing economy and include them in the nation’s prosperity. With employee share ownership strategies, employees may hold a majority of shares as participants in an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), be members of a worker cooperative, or have a meaningful stake in a public company or start-up. Business leaders often emphasize the value of employee engagement, and many have found that these strategies contribute to higher levels of worker engagement, relative to that of peer companies. Can employee share ownership strategies help workers to share in the success of their companies, while promoting business success?
At this event, we hear about companies that have used employee share ownership models successfully, as well as policymakers who are exploring strategies to support and advance employee share ownership opportunities. This event was jointly hosted by the Economic Opportunities Program and the Financial Security Program.
This event features Congressman Erik Paulsen (US Representative for Minnesota’s Third Congressional District), Joseph Blasi (Senior Fellow, Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program; Director, Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University; J. Robert Beyster Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations), Amy Hall (Vice President, Social Consciousness, EILEEN FISHER), Markita Madden-Puckett (Customer Service Representative, ComSonics, Inc.), Stephen R. Smith (President & CEO, AMSTED Industries), Steven Voigt (Retired President & CEO, King Arthur Flour), and moderator Heather Long (Economics Correspondent, The Washington Post).
This event is part of the Working in America series, an ongoing discussion series hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program that highlights an array of critical issues affecting low- and moderate-income workers in the United States and ideas for improving and expanding economic opportunities for working people. For more information, visit as.pn/workinginamerica.
The Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. We recognize that race, gender, and place intersect with and intensify the challenge of economic inequality and we address these dynamics by advancing an inclusive vision of economic justice. For over 25 years, EOP has focused on expanding individuals’ opportunities to connect to quality work, start businesses, and build economic stability that provides the freedom to pursue opportunity. Learn more at as.pn/eop.