Employment & job creation
By portfolio company size
How is employment and job creation affected by company size?
In general, smaller companies achieve faster growth. But although larger companies grow at slower rates, the number of net jobs they create is far greater.
Of course job creation isn’t only about size. It also requires the right product or service for the market, scalability, skilled management and suitable investment.
>1 million
people were employed in roughly
22,127
SMEs backed by private equity in 2024
for SMEs analysis
Employment
Private equity specialises in active portfolio management, enabling companies to grow and create jobs, whatever their size. Once a portfolio company’s market and growth potential are identified, private equity provides the support and investment to drive growth. When private equity, together with management teams and entrepreneurs get this right, companies of all sizes increase employment.
Employment 2024
By company size
1.9 million
employees in 2024
working in private equity-
backed companies with
<500 employees.
17% of all private equity-
backed jobs, in 84% of
portfolio companies.
9.5 million
employees in 2024
working in private equity-
backed companies with
>500 employees.
83% of all private equity-
backed jobs, in 16% of
portfolio companies.
Job creation
Overall, the mid-sized employee bands drove the strongest growth, while the smallest (0–250) and largest (5,000+) categories recorded more modest increases between 2023-2024. Companies with 500-999 employees experienced the highest employment growth rates between 2023-2024 (+8.3%). They were followed by companies with 251-499 and 1,000-4,999 employees, which saw growth rates of 6.8% and 5.5% respectively. In absolute numbers, companies with 1,000-4,999 employees created the most jobs: +106,710, followed by companies with 5,000+ employees, which created 92,179 jobs in 2024.
+3.9%
more new jobs created by SMEs in 2024
Job creation 2023-24
By company size
‘Graduation’ to higher size category
We estimate that overall, 9% of portfolio companies ‘graduated’ to a higher category based on the number of employees during 2024. This is slightly higher than levels seen in previous years. A significant proportion of SMEs in our sample saw year-on-year growth and job creation, fuelled by investment and management support from their private equity backers. The highest proportion was seen in the 200-250 employee category, with 36% of these companies moving up to a higher size category in 2024.
details on graduation in companies
from 2017-2024