This is a list of notable employee-owned companies by country. These are companies totally or significantly owned (directly or indirectly) by their employees.[1]
Employee ownership takes different forms and one form may predominate in a particular country. For example, in the U.S. over 5,700 of the roughly 6,400 employee-owned companies have an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).[2] An ESOP is an employee-owner method that provides a company's workforce with an ownership interest in the company. In an ESOP, companies provide their employees with stock ownership, often at no up-front cost to the employees. ESOP shares, however, are part of employees' remuneration for work performed. Shares are allocated to employees and may be held in an ESOP trust until the employee retires or leaves the company. The shares are then sold.
Worker cooperatives are another form of employee ownership wherein workers are exclusive owners and managers of the firm, with one vote per employee in democratic decision-making.