Multinational Employee Ownership Plans Continue to Grow

The number of companies setting up multinational employee ownership plans continues to expand rapidly, according to a number of speakers at the most recent Conference on Global Equity Compensation sponsored by the National Center for Employee Ownership and the American Compensation Association. Speakers from Arthur Anderson, William Mercer, Baker & Mckenzie, Hewitt Associates, and other firms report that more and more of their clients are setting up these plans. At least 100 large US multinationals now have plans that offer options or similar equity packages to most or all of their employees worldwide, covering millions of employees. A growing number of smaller companies and companies in the UK, Continental Europe, and elsewhere are joining the trend as well. Finnish companies seem to be taking the lead. Erriki Helaniemi of Alexander Corporate Finance in Helsinki reports that 70% of the Finnish companies that offer options offer them to all employees. Most Finnish companies have operations abroad, and extend these plans to employees there as well.

The growth of the plans is especially impressive in light of the enormous complexity of setting up plans worldwide. Sun Microsystems, for instance, has employees in 150 countries, built its leadership, as in the case in many other multinationals, believes that extending ownership worldwide is an essential part of the company's strategy and vision.

The NCEO will establish a web site providing information on rules and practices on these issues sometime in the future.