Statement by Stephen Lerner, Director of SEIU's Private Equity Project, regarding the World Economic Forum Study on the economic impact of private equity:

"When all the studies are said and done, the buyout business remains at its core a vehicle for the spectacular accumulation of wealth by the few without regard for the impact on others.

"The studies to date on the issue of jobs have had serious methodological flaws and unreliable conclusions. This study, among the most comprehensive to date and based on the best publicly available data, discredits already dubious industry claims based on self-reported, selective information.

"Among the conclusions it draws and the questions it raises, the study reinforces the fact that buyouts remain intrinsically linked to job cuts and slower job growth.

"Until the buyout industry opens its books and discloses comprehensive information about jobs, wages, and benefits at the companies it buys and sells, its claims about job creation will remain suspect.

"Important questions remain about the impact of buyouts on jobs and people's lives:

  Do workers' wages at portfolio companies go up, down, or stagnate?
  Do buyout firms provide health insurance and other benefits to portfolio company employees?
  Are jobs relocated within the U.S. or shifted overseas, impacting wage and benefit levels, and the lives of workers and their families?
  How many jobs at portfolio companies have been subcontracted, and what are the wages, benefits and working conditions of those jobs before and after the work is subcontracted?"

www.behindthebuyouts.org

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