ABSTRACT
In the USA, for example, employment, at over 7 million people (full-time equivalents) in the voluntary nonprofit sector,* represents 6.8 per cent of the
total workforce and 15.4 per cent of those employed in the service sector. In Europe the figures are smaller but still significant. In Germany (1 million people), France (0.8 million people) and the UK (0.9 million people), employment in the voluntary nonprofit sector is around 4 per cent of total employment and 10 per cent of employment in the service sector. Japan, which has a lower percentage, still represents 1.4 million employees in the voluntary nonprofit sector. To put this into perspective, while there are 2 million employees employed by the six largest companies in Europe and the USA (Daimler-Benz, General Motors, Hitachi, Fiat, AlcatelAlsthom and Unilever), there are 11.8 million employed in the voluntary nonprofit sector in the countries mentioned above.
