Graduate job vacancies in the UK have fallen sharply over the past year, with employers listing 8,383 roles in July compared with 15,397 a year earlier, according to jobs platform Adzuna. The decline comes as companies make greater use of AI and face higher employment costs, particularly when hiring junior staff.
The July figure was the lowest recorded by Adzuna since it began tracking graduate vacancies in 2016. It also represents a steep drop from 2017, when the platform listed more than 55,800 graduate jobs.
Competition for Vacancies Is Increasing
Adzuna said competition is also rising across the wider jobs market.
There were an average of 2.14 job seekers for every vacancy in July, up from 1.93 a year earlier.
Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said employers had still not found sufficient reason to increase hiring for recent graduates.
Businesses have previously pointed to increases in employer National Insurance contributions and the minimum wage as factors making recruitment more expensive. Junior roles can be particularly sensitive to those additional costs.
AI is also changing how some companies structure entry-level work and recruitment. Young job seekers have previously told the BBC that they are applying for hundreds of positions before receiving responses, while some have expressed frustration with employers using AI systems to screen applications.
Youth Unemployment Remains Elevated
Official figures show the UK unemployment rate among 16- to 24-year-olds stood at 16.2% in the three months to March 2026.
More than one million young people are now classified as not in education, employment, or training.
Former government minister Alan Milburn is leading a review into youth unemployment and has previously warned that both entry-level jobs and part-time positions traditionally filled by teenagers and students are becoming less available.
The decline is not uniform across every industry. Adzuna recorded recent increases in vacancies in travel, teaching, and construction.
Healthcare, nursing, hospitality, and logistics, however, posted fewer available roles.
Government Targets More Youth Employment Opportunities
Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently changed requirements for public contracts so companies bidding for government work must explain how they will create jobs and training opportunities.
A government spokesperson said there were 253,000 more people in work than a year earlier and that unemployment was continuing to fall.
The government has also announced a £2.5 billion youth employment package that it says will provide almost one million opportunities for young people to work, train, or study.
Featured image credits: Magnific.com
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