The UK’s ailing graduate jobs market has slumped to a record low as employment costs surge and firms turn to AI for entry-level roles.
The number of graduate vacancies in Britain fell 45.6 per cent to 8,383 in the year to July, undercutting the previous low set in May, according to recruitment firm Adzuna.
This marks the latest decline in a long deterioration for the UK’s graduate jobs market. In mid-2017, more than 55,000 graduate roles were up for grabs.
Employers have hit out in recent months at the impact of Labour’s hike to employer national insurance contributions and its plans to scrap age-based wage bands.
Huge City industries like tech and consultancy have begun scrapping entry-level roles in recent years, instead handing administrative tasks to AI.
The Big Four consultancy firms have led the charge, with KPMG trimming its 2023 graduate intake from 1,399 to just 942.
“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,” said Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter.
Last week, a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that the UK’s jobs market has “largely stopped moving”.
Salary growth cools #
Britain has become locked into a “low hire, low fire” cycle which could be broken if Burnham addressed employment costs, the HR industry body said.
Adzuna found that non-graduate entry-level roles are also shrinking. Vacancies fell eight per cent to 192,864 in the year to July, reversing gains from earlier in the year.
Overall, the number of jobs on offer in the UK fell by 9.6 per cent to 791,490 in the year to July. More than two people (2.14) are now competing for every vacancy, compared to 1.93 the year prior.
Salary growth is continuing to cool, Adzuna found. The average advertised salary has fallen 0.73 per cent since May, to £43,675 in July.
Jobs are also taking longer to fill, with employers waiting 36.5 days on average to find a new hire, compared to 35.4 days in May.
“July’s numbers are a step backwards, not a blip,” Hunter said. “Teaching, travel and trade and construction are still adding roles, and manufacturing is now doing the same too.
“But that’s a short list, and everyone outside of these sectors is having a harder time than they were three months ago.”