What If All Employees Had Shares in a Business? — Food For Thought
I don’t mean full equal shares, maybe proportional to the role they fill, on top of their wage. Those with more responsibility and more demanding roles would have a higher share. But everyone would have something extra.
Not a small amount either. If the business did well, they would feel it.
If you left the job, you lost ownership of those shares and they were given to new employees who filled that role, so you could never hold shares for a company you didn’t work for.
How different would we work? Would people be more invested in the performance of their work?
They would be more fulfilled. Our hard work would bring about direct financial gain, we would technically be working for ourselves. What we put in would help us achieve more of an output.
Moving to a better company to fulfil a role which would typically be less desirable might actually be a better move if the company was making more money.
Instead, what do we have?
We have people slaving away for minimum wage to line the pockets of the rich.
Imagine if all those Amazon warehouse employees didn’t have to pee in bottles to avoid reducing their productivity score for minimum wage, were able to have a share of Amazon’s very very sizeable pie. Sure their work conditions would suck and that’s a story for another day, but they would certainly feel more fulfilled with that amount of money coming in.
Why would people start a business then?
Well besides the fulfilment that comes from being your own boss? The excitement and challenge of building a successful business? Well, maybe business founders could keep their shares if they left.
Well if that sounds good to you congratulations you’re a socialist.
