Employee Ownership in the 2010 General Social Survey

The 2010 General Social Survey, one of the largest and longest-running national surveys, found that the percentage of employees saying they have ownership in the companies where they work has been stable since 2006 at 17.5% of the private sector workforce. Among those who work for organizations that have stock, 36% report owning shares. The percentage of respondents saying they have stock options declined slightly, from 9.3% of the private sector workforce in 2006 to 8.7% in 2010. The GSS also examined voluntary and involuntary turnover. Less than 3% of people who say they own stock in their companies reported being laid off in the last 12 months, compared to 12% of those who do not own stock. In addition, while 24% of the non-owner employees intend to look for new jobs in the near future, only 13% of employee-owners do.

The addition of employee ownership to the GSS questionnaire was funded by the Employee Ownership Foundation.