As the economy and jobs top the concerns of American voters, a new, major, independent study on the impact of private equity buyouts on jobs is expected to be released this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The buyout industry exercises significant influence over American jobs and employment practices, with buyout firms, through their portfolio companies, comprising five of the top ten largest US-based private employers. The five largest US buyout firms alone own companies that employ an estimated 2.7 million workers. The new study, on the Economic Impact of Private Equity, is being led by Josh Lerner, professor at Harvard Business School, and Steven Davis, professor at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business, who analyzed 5,000 private-equity transactions from 1980 through 2005.

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In Times Square, the buyout industry is, literally, everywhere you turn. On Wednesday July 18, New York residents and journalists will participate in a guided tour by double-decker bus of private equity-owned companies in Times Square. The staggering concentration of private equity-owned companies at the “Crossroads of the World” provides a microcosm of the impact of this wealthy and growing industry over America’s national economic landscape. The tour is sponsored by SEIU, ACORN, and the Working Families Party of New York.

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As the private equity buyout industry grows in size and influence over the new economy, so do concerns about the effects of its business dealings on workers, communities, and the nation. Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), will serve as a witness at the House Financial Services Committee’s hearing “Private Equity’s Effects on Workers and Firms” next Wednesday, May 16th to address those concerns, as well as the opportunities for our country presented by the wealth and prominence of the buyout industry.

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