“As private equity’s slump approaches the four-year mark, more younger professionals are considering taking roles outside the industry, according to a forthcoming report on private-equity pay and job satisfaction from recruiting firm Odyssey Search Partners.

Overall, 17% of private-equity professionals this year said they are likely or very likely to consider taking a job outside the industry, up from 8% in 2023, Odyssey Search Partners reported, based on more than 1,000 survey responses.

“Private equity has lost some of its luster,” said Anthony Keizner, co-founder of Odyssey Search Partners. “There are very smart, capable people wondering if there is a possibility to pivot and catch a different wave.” The talent competition is unlike that of the period after the 2007-09 recession, when hiring was broadly depressed across Wall Street, Keizner said.

Carried interest is also the biggest pay-related factor in professionals seeking new roles, Keizner said. Assetsales have slowed, and now more workers are doubting whether the life-changing sums they might have reaped through exits will materialize, Keizner said. That makes them more open to alternatives.

“I wouldn’t characterize this as an exodus, but [private-equity employees] used to be fully closed off to alternative careers, and now there’s an openness,” Keizner said.

Across all levels, 48% of survey respondents said they were happy with their compensation, the same as last year.

Satisfaction often comes down to whether their firms are actually closing deals, and whether employees see a path for career advancement, Keizner said. The results suggest that firms need to do more to keep younger employees active and engaged at a time when dealmaking is slower and pay is flattening, Keizner said.

“They’re not leaving because they didn’t receive a 5% increase in comp, they’re leaving because their firms are not as active in the space,” he said.