The number of graduate job vacancies in the UK has fallen by almost half in a single year, with new data from jobs platform Adzuna pointing to a sharp contraction in entry-level hiring as employers cut junior roles in favour of artificial intelligence and contend with rising costs.
Adzuna recorded just 8,383 graduate vacancies on its site in July, down from 15,397 at the same point in 2024. That figure is also the lowest the firm has recorded since it began tracking graduate roles in 2016. For additional context, Adzuna noted a peak of more than 55,800 listed graduate positions in 2017, making the current total roughly one sixth of that level.
Competition for roles across all levels is intensifying alongside the vacancy decline. Adzuna found an average of 2.14 job seekers per vacancy in July, up from 1.93 a year earlier. Businesses have cited hikes to employer national insurance contributions and minimum wage rates as factors making junior hires particularly expensive.
Not everyone reads the numbers as a straightforward collapse, however. Graduate jobs analyst Charlie Ball cautioned that the data may partly reflect a shift in how roles are advertised rather than a wholesale retreat from graduate hiring. Roles may no longer be labelled as graduate positions even when they are ultimately filled by graduates. Ball acknowledged the market is weak and not in great shape, but stopped short of calling it a crisis.
Official figures add further weight to concerns about young people’s prospects. The UK’s youth unemployment rate, covering those aged 16 to 24, stood at 16.2 per cent in the three months to March 2026 and the number of young people not in education, employment or training has now exceeded one million. Many graduates have described submitting hundreds of applications before receiving any response, with growing frustration at the use of AI-driven screening tools by employers.
The sectoral picture is mixed. Adzuna’s data showed vacancies in travel, teaching and construction edging upward in recent weeks, while healthcare, nursing, hospitality and logistics all saw declines.
Former government minister Alan Milburn is leading a review of the youth unemployment situation, having previously highlighted a contraction in both entry-level positions and the part-time roles traditionally taken by students.
A government spokesperson pointed to 253,000 more people in work compared with the same period last year and referenced a £2.5 billion youth employment package designed to deliver close to one million earning or learning opportunities, signalling that ministers are aware of the pressure and moving to address it.
