New Survey on Employee Attitudes Toward Stock Plans

Morgan Stanley has published a new survey of 750 stock plan participants in large public companies that describes how employees react to these plans. The report, Attitudes and Behaviors of Stock Plan Participants, unfortunately does not provide much detail on how people were selected to participate, so the data on who is participating is not necessarily representative of the universe of stock plan participants. Nonetheless, the results do provide some useful insights.

Twenty-one percent of the participants were executives; 65% are professional, technical, supervisory, or managerial employees; and 14% are hourly. Forty-two percent had incomes of $200,000 or more. Ninety-two percent of the respondents are satisfied with their plan, and 57% very satisfied. Recipients getting options, restricted stock, or performance shares (a group that skews more towards higher-paid people) value their plans more than 401(k) plans; ESPP participants just slightly less. Overall, participants reported having 12.1% of their pay invested annually in stock plans compared to 7.6% in 401(k) plans. Seventy-five percent of respondents said having a stock plan makes them feel more invested in the company and 67% said it shows the company truly values its employees.