University graduates in the UK are facing the toughest job market since 2018, figures suggest, as employers pause hiring and use AI to cut costs according to analysts.<\/p>\n
The number of roles advertised for recent graduates is down 33% compared with last year and is at the lowest level in seven years, according to the job search site Indeed.<\/p>\n
Overall job postings as of mid-June were 5% lower compared with the end of March, as the broader job market struggles in the face of higher taxes for employers <\/a>and minimum wage changes<\/a> introduced from April.<\/p>\n It means the UK is an outlier compared with the US and its peers in Europe, as it is the only economy with fewer job openings available than before the pandemic, according to the data. Jack Kennedy, a senior economist at Indeed, said the figures underlined a \u201ccontinued gradual softening rather than a nosedive\u201d in the labour market.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite the UK labour market holding out overall, new entrants like graduates face a challenging time in securing a first rung on the ladder,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cThis signals a wider landscape of employers holding on to existing staff, while some observers contend that entry-level roles in professional occupations are particularly exposed to AI displacement.\u201d<\/p>\n Share your experience<\/p>\n You can share your experience of AI and job-seeking using this form or by messaging us.<\/p>\n Your responses, which can be anonymous, are secure as the form is encrypted and only the Guardian has access to your contributions. We will only use the data you provide us for the purpose of the feature and we will delete any personal data when we no longer require it for this purpose. For true anonymity please use our SecureDrop<\/a> service instead.<\/p>\n What has been your recent experience of the graduate job market? <\/p>\n Please include as much detail as possible. <\/p>\n If applicable, in what ways have you noticed AI is changing the landscape for graduate jobs? Optional<\/p>\n Please be as specific as possible. <\/p>\n For upcoming and recent graduates or parents, tell us more about the job-searching experience Optional<\/p>\n Please include as much detail as possible. <\/p>\n For employers, tell us more about how your recruitment or specific job roles have changed recently Optional<\/p>\n Please include as much detail as possible. <\/p>\n If you are happy to, please upload a photo of yourself here Optional<\/p>\n Please note, the maximum file size is 5.7 MB.<\/p>\n Choose file<\/p>\n Can we publish your response? <\/p>\n You can add more information here Optional<\/p>\n If you include other people’s names please ask them first.<\/p>\n Would you be interested in speaking to our audio and\/or video teams? <\/p>\n By submitting your response, you are agreeing to share your details with us for this feature.<\/p>\n Submit<\/p>\n Show more<\/p>\n There are varying forecasts about the impact of AI on the labour market. Research from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has found the technology could disrupt \u201cwhite-collar\u201d professions<\/a> such as lawyers, doctors and software engineers. The International Monetary Fund has estimated that 60% of jobs in advanced economies such as the US and UK are exposed to AI, and that half of these jobs may be negatively affected.<\/p>\n The Tony Blair Institute has said potential UK job losses in the private sector could be mitigated by AI creating new roles.<\/p>\n This month the technology secretary, Peter Kyle, called on workers and businesses to \u201cact now\u201d on getting to grips with AI<\/a>, or risk being left behind.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI think most people are approaching this with trepidation. Once they start [using AI], it turns to exhilaration, because it is a lot more straightforward than people realise, and it is far more rewarding than people expect.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Business Today<\/p>\n Get set for the working day \u2013 we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no one in employment at the moment that is incapable of gaining the skills that will be needed in the economy in the next five years \u2026 That is the optimistic way of saying: act now, and you will thrive into the future. Don\u2019t, and I think that some people will be left behind. And that\u2019s what worries me the most.\u201d<\/p>\n This article was amended on 26 June 2025 to clarify that the link between AI and the decline in graduate jobs is something suggested by analysts, rather than documented by figures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"University graduates in the UK are facing the toughest job market since 2018, figures suggest, as employers pause…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[28,134],"class_list":{"0":"post-6869","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jobs","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-jobs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}