Private Equity at Work: Employment & job creation across Europe (Invest Europe)

Summary

• Private equity backed portfolio companies created 173,124 net jobs in 2018, achieving an employment growth rate of 5.5%.p.4
• Venture capital backed companies achieved the highest employment growth rate at +16%, creating 17,135 net jobs in 2018.p.9
• Business Products & Services was the largest employer by sector, accounting for 3,362,728 employees across 4,315 portfolio companies.p.11
• France & Benelux represented the largest geographic region for private equity backed employment, accounting for 3.9 million jobs.p.14

Key insights

1. Private equity job creation rate of +5.5% in 2018 significantly outperformed the overall European market job growth rate of +1.1%.p.4
2. Venture stage portfolio companies experienced a 15.5% job creation rate between 2017 and 2018, adding 12,502 new jobs.p.10
3. Central & Eastern Europe recorded the highest regional private equity job creation growth rate of 10.7%, adding 12,796 net jobs.p.13
4. Île-de-France was the largest sub-region for private equity backed employment in Europe, supporting 1,201,906 jobs in 2018.p.14
5. Portfolio companies with more than 500 employees accounted for 83% of all private equity backed jobs, while companies with fewer than 500 employees represented 77% of all portfolio companies.p.17
6. Approximately 11% of portfolio companies graduated to a higher employee size bracket between 2017 and 2018.p.17
7. Pension funds and insurance companies committed €134 billion to European private equity between 2014 and 2018.p.5