95 years in business, zero layoffs ever

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What if treating employees like partners instead of expenses built a better business?

Most founders think about employees as costs to minimize. Hire cheap. Keep salaries low. Cut quickly when revenue dips. It's the Silicon Valley playbook and the Wall Street standard.

Publix has operated for 95 years without a single layoff. WinCo Foods has weathered every recession since 1967 with their workforce intact. W.L. Gore, maker of Gore-Tex, hasn't laid off anyone in over 65 years of business.

The common thread? All three treat employees like owners because they actually are owners. Workers don't just collect paychecks. They own equity in the companies they build.

When you give employees real ownership, the entire business changes. People stop watching the clock and start watching the bottom line. Retention skyrockets. Innovation increases. Customer service improves because workers actually care about the outcome.

Here's why treating employees like partners creates better companies than treating them like expenses ever could.

Publix: When grocery workers own the store

Publix Super Markets was founded in 1930 in Winter Haven, Florida, by George W. Jenkins. Jenkins had a radical idea: what if grocery store employees owned part of the business?

He started small. Offering stock to workers who proved themselves. Building a culture where everyone had skin in the game.

Today, Publix is the largest employee-owned company in the United States with over 260,000 employees and $59.7 billion in retail sales in 2024. Every eligible employee receives company stock through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).

The result? Publix has operated for 95 years without a single layoff. Not during the Great Depression. Not during the 2008 financial crisis. Not during COVID-19.

When the pandemic hit and other grocery chains laid off workers, Publix kept their entire team. Why? Because cutting staff would reduce the value of everyone's equity including the employees being asked to make the decision.

Instead of treating workers as expenses to cut, Publix invested in them. They hired more people to meet increased demand. They raised wages. They protected the ownership culture that made them successful.

This is what happens when you treat employees like partners. They don't just work harder. They think differently. They care about efficiency because waste hurts their equity. They deliver better customer service because reputation affects their wealth.

WinCo Foods: Employees who own stock work differently

WinCo Foods started as a single discount warehouse store in Boise, Idaho, in 1967 . By the 1980s, they transitioned to employee ownership through an ESOP.

Today, WinCo operates over 140 stores across the western United States and employs more than 20,000 people . Like Publix, they've never had layoffs.

The difference in employee behavior is dramatic. When you're just collecting a paycheck, you optimize for your shift ending. When you own equity, you optimize for the business succeeding long-term.

WinCo employees stay longer because they're building wealth, not just earning wages. The average tenure is significantly higher than industry standards. That means:

• Less money wasted on recruiting and training

• Better customer service from experienced staff

• Institutional knowledge that compounds over decades

• Workers who actually care if the business succeeds

During the 2008 recession, while publicly traded grocers laid off thousands, WinCo maintained their workforce. Employee-owners voted to weather the downturn together rather than sacrificing colleagues.

This is the loyalty you get when employees aren't just workers. They're invested in the outcome. Literally.

W.L. Gore: No bosses, shared ownership, better results

W.L. Gore & Associates, maker of Gore-Tex and hundreds of other advanced materials, was founded in 1958 . Founders Bill and Vieve Gore had a revolutionary idea: what if there were no bosses?

Gore operates without traditional managers or job titles . Employees, called "associates," work in small teams. Leaders emerge based on ability and respect, not hierarchy. Everyone becomes an owner after a certain period.

The result? Over 65 years in business without a single layoff . When you treat people like partners, they act like partners. They solve problems together instead of waiting for orders.

During the 2008 financial crisis, Gore associates voted to reduce hours across the board rather than eliminate positions. Everyone took a temporary pay cut to keep the team intact. When the economy recovered, everyone benefited from the preserved workforce.

Gore's revenue exceeds $4 billion annually with over 11,000 associates worldwide . Their ownership culture creates innovation that traditional hierarchies kill. Associates feel empowered to experiment because they're building value for themselves.

This is what happens when you treat employees as equals with real ownership. They think like entrepreneurs because they are entrepreneurs.

Why treating employees well creates better businesses

You don't need to be a massive corporation to apply these principles. The mindset works at any scale.

Ownership creates different behavior

Employees paid hourly think about their shift. Employees with equity think about the company's future. The behavioral difference shows up in everything from customer service to cost management.

People who feel valued stay longer

High turnover costs companies 50-200% of an employee's annual salary in recruiting, training, and lost productivity. Treating employees well dramatically reduces turnover. The savings compound over years.

Partners solve problems, employees ignore them

When workers are just collecting paychecks, they ignore problems that aren't their job. When they own equity, every problem becomes their problem. They fix things before you even know they're broken.

Good treatment attracts better talent

People who just want a job will work anywhere. People who want to build something significant seek out companies that treat employees like partners. The quality of your team changes when you offer real ownership.

What you can do while building your business

You don't need an ESOP to apply these principles. You can start treating employees like partners from day one, even with limited resources.

Offer equity early, even small amounts

Give early employees stock options or profit sharing. Even 0.1% ownership changes how someone thinks about the business. They stop seeing themselves as workers and start seeing themselves as builders.

Share financial information transparently

Traditional companies hide numbers from employees. That creates an us-versus-them dynamic. When you share revenue, costs, and profits openly, employees understand why decisions matter and how their work impacts outcomes.

Make retention more valuable than job hopping

Most employees leave because there's no long-term upside to staying. Create vesting schedules that reward loyalty. Make it financially painful to leave after two years because the equity they'd lose is substantial.

Treat layoffs as absolute last resort

Public companies cut jobs to protect quarterly numbers. Employee-owned companies cut everything else first. Reduce hours temporarily. Have founders defer salaries. Find creative solutions that keep the team intact.

Build culture where everyone thinks like an owner

Ownership isn't just equity percentages. It's mindset. Ask employees how they'd solve problems if the company were theirs. Give them authority to make decisions. Reward people who think long-term instead of just completing tasks.

The pattern that builds lasting companies

Publix: 95 years, zero layoffs, $59.7 billion in sales.

WinCo: 59 years, zero layoffs, 140+ profitable stores .

W.L. Gore: 65+ years, zero layoffs, $4 billion in revenue .

These aren't anomalies. They're proof that treating employees like partners builds better businesses than treating them like expenses.

You don't need billions in revenue to start. You need to decide whether you're building a business that extracts value from workers or one that creates value with partners.

Offer equity early. Even small amounts change behavior. People think differently when they own part of what they're building.

Share information transparently. When employees understand the business, they make better decisions. Hiding numbers creates distrust.

Make staying more valuable than leaving. Structure compensation so the best move is staying long-term, not job-hopping every two years.

Treat people like the partners they are. Give real authority. Solicit real input. Build a culture where everyone thinks like an owner because they are owners.

Wall Street thinks this is irrational. They say workers are costs to minimize and shareholders are who you serve. They optimize for quarterly earnings and cut jobs at the first sign of trouble.

But 95 years without layoffs isn't irrational. It's what happens when you treat the people building your company like partners instead of expenses.

The math is simple. Give employees real ownership. Watch them start thinking like entrepreneurs. Benefit from loyalty, innovation, and retention that traditional employment models can never achieve.

What would your business look like if employees acted like partners?

Until next time,
Emil - Founder of Income Ivy

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