Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation Survey Says 8% of Private Sector Employees Have Stock Options or Are in ESPPs
Executive Director
The 2013 National Compensation Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 8% of private sector employees, or 9.2 million employees, are in what the BLS defines as "stock option" plans. Unfortunately, the BLS definition simply defines these as "plans [that] allow establishment employees the right to buy company stock at a fixed price by a fixed time." That definition would include stock options granted by employers as well as employee stock purchase plans. The definition also does not include (nor does the BLS collect data on) other forms of individual equity grants, such as restricted stock, phantom stock, or stock appreciation rights.
More useful are the data the BLS compiles on the distributions of participation by sector and employee type. Not surprisingly, the plans are most common in the information industry, where 31% of employees participate, and least common in leisure, health care, and education (many businesses in these sectors are non-profit).
In 2011 and 2012, 8% of employees were in these plans, compared to 9% in 2009 and 7% in 2010.