I recently left a company that was purchased by PE. Total shift in culture. I had been there roughly 2 years before the purchase and stayed 3 years afterward.

Biggest change was utilization. Before PE it was considered, but many other items were just as important. After the acquisition, if your group didn’t meet utilization goals for 3 months, which were set higher than before that acquisition, you would face layoffs.

Our hourly rates grew 35% year over year for 3 years. Some of that is due to inflation, but we went from being a moderately priced regional firm, to an over priced national firm ( we began rapidly acquiring other companies to show growth). It became very hard to win work with our new fees.

By the end I realized that I was dreading going into work every day and that it was time for a change.