As opposed to putting your retirement fund into other company's stocks, which everyone does at the same time, making those companies too big too fail without unraveling several threads of social fabric.
I think your statement actually proves why employees should have stock in the company.
If we really were worried about issues such as this we'd have universal (not attached to you employer) healthcare and a pretty robust (but minimal) retire fund for citizens.
But we have the opposite of that with none of the upsides.
On the other hand, if my wealth is in Acme Corp and they go bankrupt, I lose my wealth and my income.
The first model is less risky, yet profitable enough to be worth it. And everyone can still own the means of production.
I don't understand how your scenario is applicable; it's definitely constructed.
But any investment manager will recommend that your savings are diversified. That helps to insulate you from individual events thus making your savings more resistant to failure.
So you might invest in public shares, or property, or personal energy (residential solar) and so on. You might mix different kinds of shares. Etc.
By contrast owning shares where you work offers few financial upsides. It may or may not out perform the market. It may or may not be liquid. And so on.
It does however come with substantial financial risk. With one point of failure, one event, you can lose your income and savings.
Only you can decide if the risk is worth the upside. For most people, it's not.
Seems to me the best option would be to offer employees ownership. You could have two compensation structures:
- 100% cash compensation - 50% cash/50% equity
See which ones employees prefer. I'll bet it's overwhelmingly the first.