New "Own Your Job" Job Board Helps Essential Workers Become Business Owners

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Apis & Heritage Capital Partners (A&H) and the Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI) are announcing the release of the "Own Your Job" Job Board, an aggregated listing of open positions at employee-owned firms, with the goal of empowering job seekers to work at firms where they will have an ownership stake. This announcement comes as 28 million workers — one in five — currently draw unemployment benefits.

The "Own Your Job" Job Board has more than 700 jobs from 95 employee-owned firms across 45 states and highlights jobs aligned with A&H and DAWI's core mission of closing the racial wealth gap and empowering essential workers through employee ownership.

Access the job board at www.apisheritage.com/oyjjobboard.

More than 6,000 U.S. businesses provide workers with some kind of ownership stakes in the firms where they work.  There are many different flavors of employee ownership (Employee Stock Ownership Plan/ESOP, Cooperative, Employee-Owned Trust, etc.) and each company does its own unique implementation.

Employee-owned firms provide their employees with stable incomes and jobs. They also give employees the opportunity to build wealth that increases alongside business growth. It's hard to overstate the impact  these ownership opportunities can have on real American families. For example, in a 2018 survey of employee-owned firms, workers nearing retirement had on average $147,522 of retirement savings from their ownership stakes. In contrast, more than one-third of all workers nearing retirement have neither retirement savings nor a defined benefit pension. This is especially true when considering workers of color.  

While employee-owned businesses can be great places to work, finding jobs at these firms can be challenging, as there is no centralized repository. A&H and DAWI are addressing this issue with the "Own Your Job" Job Board.

The "Own Your Job" Job Board was developed by analyzing more than U.S. 100 firms that have some form of employee ownership, including many businesses that are 100% owned by their employees.

A&H and DAWI's core mission is increasing the number of employee-owners in industries that are accessible for a broad swath of Americans, which is especially important in these economic times. The first iteration of the OYJ Job Board is focused on sectors such as landscaping, nursing, mechanical contracting, food processes and other critical services that have been active, and growing, during this pandemic.  

The job board will be updated periodically and employee-owned firms not on the current job board are invited to submit their information to A&H to continue highlighting quality, employee-owned jobs.

SOURCE Democracy at Work Institute

Related Links

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