UK graduate job vacancies plunge to lowest in a decade amid AI shift

In a recent update UK inflation has capped another feather after radugate job vacancies across the Britain have slumped to their lowest level in a decade, with new data revealing a sharp squeeze on entry-level career opportunities just as a record cohort of students prepares for university.

According to the Guardian, the recruitment platform Adzuna reported that just 8,383 graduate jobs were advertised nationwide, representing a staggering 45% drop compared to the same period last year and the lowest figure since tracking began in 2016.

Employers point to a combination of rising operational overheads—including higher minimum wages and increased national insurance contributions alongside a growing corporate pivot toward AI and workflow automation to handle tasks traditionally given to junior staff.

The slump contributes to a wider youth employment crisis, with over one million young Britons currently classified as NEET (not in education, employment, or training).

According to a recruiting website, Graduate job vacancies in the UK have sunk to their lowest level since they started being tracked a decade ago.

The number comes as 262,820 people prepare to go to university in September, a record high that underlines the tough conditions facing graduates entering the job market as entry-level roles are threatened by AI.

Andrew Hunter, a co-founder of Adzuna, said: “July’s numbers are a step backwards, not a blip. The annual vacancy decline got worse for the first time since January, and (the number of) jobseekers per vacancy are now higher than they were a year ago.

“The graduate job market also keeps setting new lows, which tells us employers still haven’t found a reason to open up hiring at that level.”

The figures point to a sharp worsening in the graduate market compared with a decade ago. In 2017, there were more than 55,000 graduate positions.

More recently, employers have also reined in their hiring in the face of increases in national insurance contributions and the minimum wage announced by the former chancellor Rachel Reeves in her last two budgets.

The extra labour cost for businesses also comes as some companies are prioritizing investment in automation and artificial intelligence tools rather than hiring.