1. The current crisis is as much economic as AI-led<\/p>\n
A shifting graduate labour market is not unusual, said Kirsten Barnes, head of digital platform at Bright Network, which connects graduates and young professionals to employers.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny shifts in the graduate job market this year \u2013 which typically fluctuates by 10-15% \u2013 appear to be driven by a combination of factors, including wider economic conditions and the usual fluctuations in business demand, rather than a direct impact from AI alone. We\u2019re not seeing a consistent trend across specific sectors,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Claire Tyler, head of insights at the Institute for Student Employers (ISE), which represents major graduate employers, said that among companies recruiting fewer graduates \u201cnone of them have said it\u2019s down to AI\u201d.<\/p>\n
Some recruitment specialists cited the recent increase in employer national insurance contributions <\/a>as a factor in slowing down entry-level recruitment.<\/p>\n Ed Steer, chief executive off Sphere Digital Recruitment, which hires for junior marketer and sales roles in tech and media, said graduate vacancies have fallen from 400 a year in 2021 to an expected 75 this year. He put the drop down to businesses wanting to hire more experienced applicants who can \u201cdeliver for their customers on day one\u201d.<\/p>\n 2. But AI is definitely a factor<\/p>\n However, Auria Heanley, co-founder of Oriel Partners, which recruits for personal assistant roles, has seen a 30% drop in entry-level roles this year. She said she had \u201cno doubt\u201d that \u201cAI combined with wider economic uncertainty, is making it much tougher for graduates to find these roles\u201d.<\/p>\n Felix Mitchell, co-chief executive at Instant Impact, which recruits for mid-sized businesses, said jobs related to Stem [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] were the most disrupted. \u201cI do think that the evidence suggests that AI will likely be a net job creator, but the losses are happening faster than the gains.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. The revolution is only going to accelerate<\/p>\n Major tech companies such as Microsoft are trumpeting the impact of AI agents \u2013 systems that perform human-level cognitive tasks autonomously \u2013 as tools that can be competent assistants in the workplace, with early adopters including the consultancy McKinsey and the law firm Clifford Chance. Dario Amodei, the boss of AI the developer Anthropic, has warned that the technology could wipe out half of all entry-level office jobs in the next five years.<\/p>\n James Reed, chief executive of the employment agency Reed, said AI would transform the whole jobs market from now on: \u201cThis is the year of AI\u2026 lots of businesses are really doubling down on it, investing in it.<\/p>\n \u201cThis feels like the year that AI is really changing and getting embedded \u2013 for better or for worse.\u201d<\/p>\n Sophie O\u2019Brien, chief executive of Pollen Careers, which caters for early-career and entry-level roles, said AI had \u201caccelerated\u201d a decline in graduate recruitment that has been going on for a few years now: \u201cThe job market could look vastly different in even a year\u2019s time.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cFor a lot of professional, desk-based jobs where you are processing information on a laptop it\u2019s entirely obvious that a huge number of those jobs over the next few years are going to be redundant. There\u2019s a workforce crisis that is going to happen and I don\u2019t know if we are ready for this.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. Learn AI skills now <\/p>\n David Bell, at the executive search firm Odgers, said law firms are demanding AI competence from graduates. \u201cAs part of the interview process for the graduate intake they are asking them about their understanding and usage of AI,\u201d he said. \u201cAnyone who has not been using ChatGPT or the equivalent will struggle to be taken on board.\u201d<\/p>\n James Milligan, global head of Stem at recruitment multinational Hays, agreed. \u201cIf they do not have that second skill set around how to use AI then they are definitely going to be at a disadvantage,\u201d he said. \u201cJobs don\u2019t die, they evolve and change. I think we are in a process of evolutionary change at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris Morrow, managing director at Digitalent, an agency that specialises in recruiting AI-related roles, said that rather than the technology taking jobs it was creating a new category of AI-adjacent positions:\u00a0\u201cIt is opening windows to jobs that did not exist 12 months ago, like AI ethics and prompt engineering. New roles are being born.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n