THE DEAL INTELLIGENCE BRIEF · ISSUE 9 · SEPTEMBER 2026
A monthly view of human capital risk and value creation for private equity, built on Deltabase culture, workforce and talent data covering 5,500+ companies and 11M employee reviews.
September brought portfolio reshaping and the first hiring signals in a while. Shell sold a Rhode Island gas plant to Constellation, Balfour Beatty set out 2,000 UK hires on the back of power-transmission demand, and UK permanent placements rose for the first time since 2022. For deal teams in Energy & Utilities, the human capital question is progression and capability: culture data shows training improving while career paths deteriorate, and workforce and talent data shows who has the delivery bench to grow.
Lucie Odell, Deltabase
What happened: On 10 September, Constellation agreed to acquire the 609 MW Rhode Island State Energy Center from Shell Energy North America for $715m, subject to regulatory approvals.
The Deltabase lens: Shell's overall NSS rose from +17.0% to +18.1% in 2025 on 1,287 reviews, but its Career Progression score fell to −62.1%, the weakest of the nine in our Energy & Utilities set. Deltabase Workforce data shows how thin operating roles are inside a large group: 4.1% of Shell's workforce sits in Engineering, Maintenance & Facilities and 3.2% in Field Operations, against 13.0% in Tech.
So what: Carve-outs move people as well as megawatts. When buying from a large parent, test whether the transferring workforce has been waiting for progression the new owner must now provide, and whether the specialist operating roles sit inside the perimeter.
What happened: On 23 September, Balfour Beatty said it plans to grow its UK workforce from about 14,000 to 16,000 by the end of 2027, with energy the main driver. UK Power Transmission revenue rose 24% in the first half, and about half of the new roles will come through early-career routes.
The Deltabase lens: Energy & Utilities employers are competing for the same engineering talent, and their training offer is improving: median Learning & Development NSS rose from +36.4% to +53.3% in 2025, with eight of nine companies improving. Delivery depth differs sharply: Deltabase Talent data shows project management skills held by 20.0% of National Grid's workforce, against 12.4% at Shell and 11.9% at BP.
So what: Contractor hiring plans on this scale are a wage and retention risk for grid and utility assets. Check whether a target's training, progression and project bench are keeping pace.
What happened: The KPMG and REC Report on Jobs put the Permanent Placement Index at 50.5 in August, the first rise since September 2022, while the candidate availability index rose to 60.6.
The Deltabase lens: As hiring restarts, progression becomes the retention lever. National Grid was the exception in our set, moving Career Progression from −53.3% to +18.9% in 2025. Deltabase Employee Turnover data puts its turnover at 7.2% over the twelve months to August 2026, with a median tenure of 6.5 years, against 7.7% and 4.6 years at BP, where Career Progression sits at −47.0%.
So what: Rising placements mean more outside offers for good people. Put progression in the 100-day plan, not just pay, and track turnover monthly from close.
−45.5%: median Career Progression NSS across nine Energy & Utilities Top 100 companies in 2025, down from −30.0%. National Grid, the one large positive mover, also has the biggest Transformation function and the deepest project management bench.
| Company | Career Progression 2024 | Career Progression 2025 | Workforce in Transformation | Project management skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Grid | −53.3% | +18.9% | 7.2% | 20.0% |
| BP | −49.2% | −47.0% | 2.1% | 11.9% |
| Shell | −53.4% | −62.1% | 2.9% | 12.4% |
| Sector median | −30.0% | −45.5% | – | – |
Source: Deltabase Culture data, Employee Net Sentiment Score (−100% to +100%), Career Progression topic, 2024–2025, sector median of ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, National Grid, Centrica, Duke Energy, NextEra Energy and Southern Company; Deltabase Workforce data, share of workforce in the Transformation function; Deltabase Talent data, share of workforce holding project management skills.
Shell and BP both improved their training scores in 2025 but diverged elsewhere. On culture, Shell's NSS edged up from +17.0% to +18.1% (1,287 reviews) while BP's fell from +10.5% to +5.5% (716 reviews); Shell leads on Learning & Development (+66.4% against +54.2%), BP on Career Progression (−47.0% against −62.1%). On workforce, Shell is more tech-heavy (13.0% in Tech against 10.0%), while BP has more people in Field Operations (4.5% against 3.2%). On talent, Shell has slightly more AI skills (2.6% against 2.1%) and BP more learning & development skills (11.0% against 9.4%). Carve-outs from either group are likely to bring strong training and weak progression.
Request a Human Capital due-diligence snapshot: a culture, talent and turnover read-out on any target or portfolio company. Talk to Deltabase →
Sources: Constellation press release (10 September 2026); Sharecast via Hargreaves Lansdown (23 September 2026); Staffing Industry Analysts, KPMG and REC Report on Jobs (7 September 2026); Deltabase Culture data; Deltabase Workforce data; Deltabase Talent data; Deltabase Employee Turnover data (sum of monthly turnover rates, September 2025 to August 2026).