Invest Europe issued a report Private Equity at Work measuring the impact of the private equity industry on employment and job creation in Europe in 2019, compared to 2018. Over time, the data measuring the private equity contribution to the economy will expand to create a comprehensive picture of private equity contribution to jobs and the economy that those jobs support. Data is collected via the European Data Cooperative platform, which is jointly owned and run by Invest Europe and other European private equity & venture capital national associations. Croatian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (CVCA) participate in the collection of the data and will expand efforts in collecting the data measuring the private equity’s industry impact on employment. Mirna Marovic, CVCA’s President, stated: “While we cannot account now precisely for the private equity industry’s contribution to the job creation to the Croatian economy, we shall make an effort to measure this impact in the future. The findings presented here below show that the private equity industry is pivotal for job creation and acts as an engine of growth for the economy. “
Private equity is one of the most important segments of the European economy present in every region and every major business sector. It provides an alternative investment mechanism to the traditional banking system who considers the risks too great. Private equity companies help to build a better business by strengthening management, improving operations, and expanding into new markets. Private equity and venture capital firms support millions of high-value jobs driving prosperity and growth in the process by making long-term investments into small, medium, and large companies.
Private equity builds successful businesses by giving them the equity and know-how necessary to expand the business and create new jobs. In 2019, a total of 254,157 net jobs were created by private equity-backed companies. Employment levels at those companies increased by 5.5% in the same year, six times the 0.9% growth achieved by businesses in Europe on average.
“ Private equity is an essential part of the solid foundation on which the European economy is built and its society flourishes. Private equity is an engine for growth, and growth is an engine for creating jobs across Europe. This was our message last year when we published our first ever Private Equity at Work report presenting a transparent account of the European private equity industry’s record on employment. It is as true and relevant today as it was then. In the context of the recovery from the effects of COVID-19, potentially even more so,” says Eric de Montgolfier, CEO of Invest Europe.
In 2019, a total of 10.2 million people were employed at private equity-backed businesses in Europe, representing 4.3% of Europe’s total 236 million workforces. That year, there were 23,009 companies in Europe backed by private equity across all industry sectors and all regions.
A total of 15,278 private equity-backed SMEs employed 899,445 people across Europe at the end of 2019. These companies increased employment at a rate of 5.5% in 2019.
In 2019, the largest number of people were employed in Business Products & Services (3,126,313), Consumer Goods & Services (3,090,398) and in Information Communications Technology (ICT) (1,328,213) sector. Private equity and venture capital are supporting innovation and business expansion, which in turn is driving economic growth and job creation.