PurposeAs a part of the authors’ continued efforts to understand the experience and trends related to small business cooperatives, the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) and the Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI) explored themes around the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on worker cooperatives and democratic workplaces.Design/methodology/approachThe USFWC and DAWI conduct a biannual Economic Census of worker cooperatives and democratic workplaces. Survey themes this year included questions around the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual firms.FindingsGeneral findings indicate that worker cooperatives experienced financial losses similar to conventional small businesses, but that this varied widely by industry. Although it has been found that BIPOC-owned conventional small businesses have been some of the hardest hit during the pandemic, the authors find that there may be some mitigating protective effects of the worker cooperative form when the authors explore the impacts on worker cooperatives with a majority BIPOC workforce. Additionally, the authors find that worker cooperatives and democratic workplaces strive to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their workers even when facing significant financial challenges throughout the pandemic.Research limitations/implicationsThis research utilizes non-random convenience sampling in data collection. The outreach for our biannual Economic Census is concentrated on a highly connected worker cooperative and democratic workplace network, the experiences of which may not generalize to the larger worker cooperative and democratic workplace landscape. Additionally, outreach efforts were hindered by challenges presented by the pandemic that were not present in prior census years, as was firm bandwidth to respond, which likely affected the sample composition in comparison to prior years.Originality/valueWorker cooperatives have been proven to be a resilient crisis response form of business, but little is known about how the worker cooperative ecosystem in the United States is faring in the face of the continuing COVID-19 crisis.
PurposeThe paper discusses the relationship between systemic inequity and wealth disparity and advocates for expanding employee share ownership as a strategy to address divides in income and wealth by race and gender. It targets diverse actors including policymakers, philanthropic leaders and social investors and presents a set of policy proposals and practice ideas that seek to advance a broader understanding of employee share ownership and build the capacity of key organizations to support employee-owned businesses.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on data indicating positive outcomes from employee share ownership programs (ESOPs) related to job quality, economic stability and wealth-building, as well as widespread political support for ESOPs.FindingsThis paper suggests that employee share ownership can help to strengthen job quality and address race and gender income and wealth gaps. It argues that there is both public support and a range of different strategies actors can implement to expand awareness and access to different forms of employee share ownership.Research limitations/implicationsAdditional research focused on other forms of employee share ownership (beyond ESOPs) is needed to deepen understanding of how each form can play a role in addressing racial and gender wealth inequities. The paper acknowledges that despite the potential of employee share ownership to mitigate racial and gender wealth gaps, additional simultaneous strategies are required to address the range of systemic barriers that have disproportionately limited women and people of color's participation in ESOPs.Practical implicationsPolicymakers are actively seeking new proposals, while philanthropic leaders, social investors and others are also eager to build awareness and understanding of employee ownership models and develop the institutional capacity necessary to support strong employee-owned businesses. This paper directly responds to these needs and contributes to a broader collaborative effort to spread employee share ownership policies and practices that support economic recovery and lay the foundation for a more equitable and resilient economy.Social implicationsEmployee share ownership is not yet a strategy that is well understood among policymakers and the public, but it connects to and supports outcomes that are top of mind for many, including increasing local ownership and bolstering local economies, helping small business owners retire in ways that preserve local jobs and businesses, strengthening job quality and workforce development, addressing racial inequity and economic inequality and providing workers greater voice and agency. This paper seeks to connect employee ownership to these high-priority issues and support efforts by a range of organizations to implement policy and practice solutions.Originality/valueThis paper fulfills an identified need to aggregate recent research on the relationship between employee share ownership and wealth inequities on the basis of race and gender. It also offers a timely argument that employee ownership strategies can play an important role in responding to the challenges facing communities and workers – particularly women workers and workers of color – as we rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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