Organizational Support for Worker-Owned Staffing: Comparative Analysis of Agency and Umbrella Group Performance, Governance, and Sustainability

SASE • July 9, 2025

Danny Spitzberg • daspitzberg@berkeley.edu

Morshed Mannan • morshed.mannan@ed.ac.uk

Our very concise agenda

• Why consider worker-owned labor contractors
• Analyzing staffing agencies vs. ‘umbrella groups’
• Findings and a profile on Up & Go, a cleaning co-op
• Conclusions

A new look at staffing?

Context: staffing is… everywhere!

• Demand for contract labor continues to grow, adding opportunities or excluded workers – women, immigrants, returning citizens, et al
• At the same time, job quality in staffing continues to decline – more precarious work, less secure employment relationship

Context: staffing is… everywhere!

• Demand for contract labor continues to grow, adding opportunities or excluded workers – women, immigrants, returning citizens, et al
• At the same time, job quality in staffing continues to decline – more precarious work, less secure employment relationship
• Yet, evidence suggests worker ownership improves job quality in historically low-wage sectors such as home care, retail, etc.
• Child care costs ~$50–200/mo in Quebec vs. ~$700–2,000/mo in California

Important analytic gaps to bridge

• Gap 1: Co-op research only on cases or ecosystems
• 1) the process of forming new co-ops
• 2) the role of regional ecosystems and policies
• Gap 2: Co-op staffing research is limited to niche areas,
• 1) Case studies of home care co-op development, in U.S.
• 2) Case studies of white-collar profession staffing co-op models, in E.U.
• 3) Legal analysis of “fake” labor co-ops loopholes in Central America, Turkey, the Philippines

Important gaps to bridge

• Gap 1: Co-op research only on cases or ecosystems
• 1) the process of forming new co-ops
• 2) the role of regional ecosystems and policies
• Gap 2: Co-op staffing research is limited to niche areas,
• 1) Case studies of home care co-op development, in U.S.
• 2) Case studies of white-collar profession staffing co-op models, in E.U.
• 3) Legal analysis of “fake” labor co-ops loopholes in Central America, Turkey, the Philippines
• Bridging by focus on intermediate level: “umbrella groups”
• Small but significant efforts aimed at supporting multiple co-ops
• Including associations, federations, networks, etc.

Research Question

What kinds of worker-owned staffing can

1. create quality jobs for workers,
2. provide high-quality services,
3. grow their business to scale?

Methods: Compare Two Sets of Staffing Agencies

Diverse forms of worker-owned labor contracting

• 10 staffing co-ops
• Staffing agencies owned by workers
• Job placement and/or back-office support

Methods: Compare Two Sets of Staffing Agencies

Diverse forms of worker-owned labor contracting

• 10 staffing co-ops
• Staffing agencies owned by workers
• Job placement and/or back-office support
• Mostly low-wage temp. work, some high-paid consulting
• Turning Basin Labs, agency for underserved workers
• Loconomics, (former) marketplace for local services
• Opolis, employment co-op for independent consultants

Methods: Compare Two Sets of Staffing Agencies

Diverse forms of worker-owned labor contracting

• 10 staffing co-ops
• Staffing agencies owned by workers
• Job placement and/or back-office support
• 8 “umbrella groups”
• Providing shared services directly to multiple co-ops
• Mainly staffing, some other sectors (retail, solar; not advocacy)
• Secondary/second-level co-ops, nonprofits, and coalitions
• Up & Go, incubated co-op of seven cleaning co-ops
• Arizmendi, co-op of six pizzeria/bakery co-ops
• Elevate Co-op, incubated co-op of home care co-ops

Methods: Compare Two Sets of Staffing Agencies

Examined goals, models, and efforts to scale

• Collected data on all orgs
• Reviewed public and internal documents, websites, etc.
• Interviewed 2–4 founders/staff per org
• Selected 3 staffing co-ops, 3 umbrella groups
• Created in-depth profiles
• Fact-checked collaboratively (shared draft profile with org)

Findings:

Findings: Staffing Co-ops

Some competitive advantage, but stuck at small scale

• Legal status makes service offering possible
• Above-avg. pay, discount on benefits (health insurance)
• Claim ‘more members’ is all they need to become sustainable
• But, struggle to ‘sell’ - secure clients, recruit workers
• Few workers become members, no growth beyond 10/100/500

Findings: Staffing Co-ops

Some competitive advantage, but stuck at small scale

• Legal status makes service offering possible
• Above-avg. pay, discount on benefits (health insurance)
• Claim ‘more members’ is all they need to become sustainable
• But, struggle to ‘sell’ - secure clients, recruit workers
• Few workers become members, no growth beyond 10/100/500
• Additional struggles realizing co-op advantages
• Admin resolve conflicts, form/lead committees, etc.
• Even with low worker-to-worker cohesion (short-term/seasonal contracts, dispersed workplaces), some participation in gov.
• No co-ops benefits (dividends, workplace democracy, etc.)

Findings: Staffing Co-ops

But, large-scale successes do exist!

• SEWA Homecare
• Est’d 2010, 152 workers
• Guarantee service with no gaps, charges a premium
• Takes just 12% of client fees (competitors take ~80%)

Umbrella group in India

Staffing co-op for domestic work

Findings: Staffing Co-ops

But, large-scale successes do exist!

• SEWA Homecare…
• Est’d 2010, 152 workers
• Guarantee service with no gaps, charges a premium
• Takes just 12% of client fees (competitors take ~80%)
• … is part of SEWA Cooperative Foundation
• Est’d 1972, 106 co-ops/collectives, 300k workers
• This relationship is common and growing
• 8 of 10 staffing co-ops we talked with either have or are seeking a larger strategic partner (e.g. larger agency or other umbrella group)

Umbrella group in India

Staffing co-op for domestic work

Profile: Up & Go, a Cleaning Co-op

• A co-op of cleaning service co-ops in NYC
• Founded in 2017, 7 co-ops with 42 member-owners
• Incubated by Center for Family Life (CFL) and partners

Umbrella group

Co-op of staffing co-ops

Profile: Up & Go, a Cleaning Co-op

• A co-op of cleaning service co-ops in NYC
• Founded in 2017, 7 co-ops with 42 member-owners
• Incubated by Center for Family Life (CFL) and partners
• Strengths: high quality jobs, solid core
• $33/hr, 48% more vs. avg. NYC cleaner, at <40hrs/wk: “we have fair wages, we make our own schedules, and we spend more time with our family.”

Umbrella group

Co-op of co-ops

Profile: Up & Go, a Cleaning Co-op

• A co-op of cleaning service co-ops in NYC
• Founded in 2017, 7 co-ops with 42 member-owners
• Incubated by Center for Family Life (CFL) and partners
• Strengths: high quality jobs, solid core
• $33/hr, 48% more vs. avg. NYC cleaner, at <40hrs/wk: “we have fair wages, we make our own schedules, and we spend more time with our family.”
• Umbrella group enables cohesion: “over time, [workers] saw the value of association as a tool they could leverage to make decisions… with COVID-19 safety… they came together under Up & Go and came to a consensus.”

Umbrella group

Co-op of co-ops

Profile: Up & Go, a Cleaning Co-op

• Struggles: independence and finance
• Still becoming independent of nonprofit incubator as workers take on back-office support roles in new committees

before:

now:

Profile: Up & Go, a Cleaning Co-op

• Struggles: independence and finance
• Still becoming independent of nonprofit incubator as workers take on back-office support roles in new committees
• Financial sustainability remains difficult, due to historic devaluing of domestic labor – especially cleaning services

before:

now:

Findings: Umbrella Groups

Boost firm performance through admin efficiency

• Providing services often costly or unavailable in markets oriented around conventional firms

Findings: Umbrella Groups

Boost firm performance through admin efficiency

• Providing services often costly or unavailable in markets oriented around conventional firms
• Example: Elevate
• Enables co-op admin and board to focus on “character” and core competencies – centralize everything else
• Offers affordable financial analysis, digital marketing, etc. to 22 co-ops with~2,000 worker-owners
• Elevate incubated 8 co-ops in past 16 months (as of Oct.)

Findings: Umbrella Groups

A key enabling role through economies of scale

1. Boost firm performance through admin efficiency
2. Improve decision-making across multiple co-ops
3. Build worker skills in occupation, and in ownership
• Partner with worker centers, workforce nonprofits, unions

Conclusions

Targeted, scalable “umbrella group” grant strategy

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• Our research finds a transformative role for umbrella groups (and partners) to train and support workers in two areas:
• 1) Skills and capacity for job duties
• 2) Related areas such as labor rights, workplace organizing, worker ownership, and democratic decision-making
• Umbrella groups and partners could increase job quality, if they
• 1) have a track record of starting/incubating or converting co-ops
• 2) play a central business role in a given sector, such as home care
• Future research ought to examine sectoral opportunities

Targeted, scalable “umbrella group” grant strategy

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• See full report and articles at haas.berkeley.edu/hrwo/
• See also our 6-page briefing paper on “Strategies for High Road Worker Ownership”

Thank you!

Full article at haas.berkeley.edu/hrwo/

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Danny Spitzberg daspitzberg@berkeley.edu