Graduate jobs have almost halved in a year. AI is only part of the story

Young graduates face brutal jobs market

To put the scale of the decline into perspective, Adzuna listed more than 55,800 graduate positions in 2017. That means the number available last month was not even a sixth of what was being advertised nine years ago.

And it is not simply a case of fewer vacancies being available. Competition has increased across the wider jobs market, with Adzuna recording 2.14 jobseekers for every advertised position in July, compared with 1.93 per vacancy a year earlier, according to figures reported by BBC News.

Why graduate jobs are disappearing

There appear to be two major pressures behind the situation. One is the rising cost of employing people, with businesses pointing to higher employer National Insurance contributions and increases to the minimum wage. That is particularly difficult for employers hiring at the bottom of the pay scale, where salaries are lower and profit margins can be tighter.

The other factor is artificial intelligence, which is increasingly taking over some of the basic tasks that would traditionally have been given to new graduates. Those entry-level responsibilities often formed the foundation of graduate schemes, meaning some employers may no longer see the same reason to bring in large numbers of inexperienced workers.

Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter said employers “still haven’t found a reason to open up hiring” for recent graduates.

The wider figures paint a difficult picture for young people. Youth unemployment among 16 to 24-year-olds reached 16.2% in the three months to March 2026, while the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training has risen above one million.

Young people have also told BBC News about sending hundreds of job applications without receiving a single response, while others have raised concerns about employers using AI to filter applications before they are even seen by a person.

A collapse, or a relabelling?

The figures do not necessarily mean that graduate opportunities have simply disappeared. Graduate jobs expert Charlie Ball has suggested that part of the fall could be down to how companies are advertising vacancies, rather than the actual number of jobs available.

Employers may now be advertising fewer positions specifically as graduate roles, while still hiring graduates for jobs that are open to a wider range of applicants. From Ball’s experience of the sector, the situation is difficult but the graduate jobs market has “not collapsed”.

We know the graduate jobs market is weak. We know it’s not in great shape.

Charlie Ball, graduate jobs expert

Even so, the wider debate around university is becoming harder to ignore. With graduates increasingly questioning whether a degree is still worth the time and money when it does not necessarily lead to a job, the traditional idea that university is the obvious route into a career is facing much more scrutiny. The Mirror has reported on graduates who now feel university is no longer worth it when employment does not follow.

The issue is also being examined at government level, with former minister Alan Milburn leading a major review into young people’s transition from education into work. His review has already questioned whether too many young people are being pushed towards university when other routes could prepare them better for employment

What it means for this year’s leavers

The advice for graduates has not necessarily changed, but the shrinking number of traditional graduate schemes means applicants may have to look beyond jobs specifically advertised for graduates.

Smaller companies, apprenticeships and roles based around particular skills rather than formal qualifications could become increasingly important for those trying to get their first step on the career ladder.

Adzuna’s figures only provide a snapshot of the market and may not represent the entire picture. Even so, the number of graduate vacancies is the lowest the site has recorded in a decade, and the wider market is clearly proving difficult for people trying to get started.