PE and VC-backed companies in Europe created more than 100,000 jobs during pandemic, study finds
European companies owned by private equity and venture capital grew their workforces by 2% in 2020 — a year when the Covid pandemic led to the overall European workforce contracting by 1.6%.
That was the key finding of a new report, Private Equity at Work, from Invest Europe, the pan-European trade body for the PE, VC and infrastructure sectors.
The third edition of the annual report found that PE and VC-backed companies created over 103,000 jobs in 2020, particularly in the technology, fintech and finance, and biotech and healthcare sectors.
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There were just short of 10 million jobs in Europe in 2020 across 24,663 PE or VC-backed companies, equivalent to 4.3% of the total European workforce.
VC-backed companies created new jobs for 86,258 workers between 2017 and 2000, while companies that had been bought out by PE firms hired 221,694 more people — an increase of 11%.
Generalist PE firms that invest in businesses across all stages of development added 15% more jobs, or 205,726 extra workers.
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Eric de Montgolfier, chief executive of Invest Europe, said: “The pandemic did impact European employment and PE and VC-backed businesses could not entirely escape the effects.
“However, there can be no doubt that the industry’s long-term investment and hands-on operational approach builds better businesses and creates jobs year in, year out.”
This article was published by Private Equity News
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