4 ms·

I can't figure out why Co-ops (particularly education institute backed) haven't really taken off in the US. For example my alma mater Georgia Tech used to offe

I can't figure out why Co-ops (particularly education institute backed) haven't really taken off in the US. For example my alma mater Georgia Tech used to offer a Co-op program but I believe they discontinued it. Northeastern here in Boston from what I have heard from others had serious problems with adoption of the Co-op program (I have to find the citation where I also read this). Of course this was a few years back so maybe Co-ops are in now?

deleted 9y ago
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jasode 9y ago
>I can't figure out why Co-ops (particularly education institute backed) haven't really taken off in the US. I'm not familiar with what "education institute backed" means. Does that mean GTech provided initial seed capital to the co-op for free? If so, how much money was it? To the general question of why co-ops are not prominent, it's because the workers don't have significant money. By definition, the co-op is owned by the workers and therefore, the workers need to fund the business. That limit on investment is why co-ops are often smaller businesses like consultants sharing an office & a laser printer or farmers-&-market collective. I also made a previous comment about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11165966 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11165966
- agentgt 9y ago
  I had a complete brain fart and thought they were talking about education co-op which is more like an internship (sadly I skimmed the article... poorly). I am surprised I wasn't downvoted (I deserve it) to oblivion for such a mistake.
31h 9y ago
An educational co-op is a completely different concept from what is described here. Work/school co-op means a student does paid full-time work while still enrolled in a degree program (e.g. a semester off). What is described in this article just refers to a worker-owned consultancy.
- agentgt 9y ago
  I can't believe I made that mistake as I even know the difference. It was confusing and I thought it was the education one because they said: * Hire a Co-op * I have never seen a technology co-op. Sure I have seen grocery stores, farms, insurance companies etc but never seen a tech co-op. * The article mentioned students.
  - conatus 9y ago
    Can't speak for elsewhere, but in the UK there are enough tech co-ops that we were able to form a network of them. https://www.coops.tech/ https://www.coops.tech/

deleted 9y ago

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jasode 9y ago

>I can't figure out why Co-ops (particularly education institute backed) haven't really taken off in the US. I'm not familiar with what "education institute backed" means. Does that mean GTech provided initial seed capital to the co-op for free? If so, how much money was it? To the general question of why co-ops are not prominent, it's because the workers don't have significant money. By definition, the co-op is owned by the workers and therefore, the workers need to fund the business. That limit on investment is why co-ops are often smaller businesses like consultants sharing an office & a laser printer or farmers-&-market collective. I also made a previous comment about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11165966 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11165966

agentgt 9y ago
I had a complete brain fart and thought they were talking about education co-op which is more like an internship (sadly I skimmed the article... poorly). I am surprised I wasn't downvoted (I deserve it) to oblivion for such a mistake.

31h 9y ago

An educational co-op is a completely different concept from what is described here. Work/school co-op means a student does paid full-time work while still enrolled in a degree program (e.g. a semester off). What is described in this article just refers to a worker-owned consultancy.

agentgt 9y ago
I can't believe I made that mistake as I even know the difference. It was confusing and I thought it was the education one because they said: * Hire a Co-op * I have never seen a technology co-op. Sure I have seen grocery stores, farms, insurance companies etc but never seen a tech co-op. * The article mentioned students.
- conatus 9y ago
  Can't speak for elsewhere, but in the UK there are enough tech co-ops that we were able to form a network of them. https://www.coops.tech/ https://www.coops.tech/