...https://secure.livethehealthyorangelife.com/financial_wellness/save/employee-stock-purchase-plan
But first, a disclaimer: I don't patronize big box national chain stores like Home Despot; in our community we have a local equivalent home improvement center with a "chain" of exactly two stores, one in Springfield, one in Eugene; the range of products is better than HD, AND the staff is very knowledgeable and very helpful. Better Head for Jerry's.
However, if one does happen to be employee of a publicly traded company, like Home Despot, and if that company offers an ESPP, perhaps with a 5% or so discount on price for stock purchases (don't know whether HD does this), and if that company is aggressively working to increase its stock price, then employees who can afford to dedicate part of their monthly income to stock purchases may accrue significant benefits.
At one point in my life, through no particular fault of my own, I was working for IBM - a situation where a publicly traded company and I, as a particular employee, satisfied the conditions identified in the previous paragraph. Over 5 years or so of employment I managed to accumulate a small, but significant to me, number of shares of stock at ~$65 per share with the ESPP discount. After retirement from the company I was able to sell those shares at ~$150 per share. Sure, there was risk, but whatever one does entails some risk. I lucked out.
The fact that a corporation is working to raise its stock price (through buy-backs or whatever) does not necessarily mean it is abandoning its employees to serve the investors greed. Fighting minimum wage increases, denying health care, etc. - yeah, those are evil corporate sins - no question. But working to raise stock price, aka company valuation, may in fact be a benefit to employees as well as investors.
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