{"slug": "uk-graduate-jobs-hit-lowest-level-since-2020-as-ai-hiring-reaches-record-high", "title": "UK Graduate Jobs Hit Lowest Level Since 2020 as AI Hiring Reaches Record High", "summary": "Graduate job vacancies in the UK have fallen to their lowest level since 2020, with Indeed reporting a 7% year-on-year decline, while AI skills demand reached a record high, appearing in 9.4% of UK job ads by end of June. The slowdown, driven by higher employment costs and economic uncertainty, has left over one million 16-to-24-year-olds not in education, employment, or training, according to Indeed senior economist Jack Kennedy.", "body_md": "# UK Graduate Jobs Hit Lowest Level Since 2020 as AI Hiring Reaches Record High\n\n## Graduate job opportunities in the UK decline as AI skills gain prominence\n\nGraduate job opportunities across the United Kingdom have fallen to their lowest level since the height of the coronavirus pandemic, as employers continue to reduce entry-level recruitment amid higher employment costs and economic uncertainty.\n\nNew research from recruitment platform Indeed found graduate vacancies were 7 per cent lower than a year earlier and had reached their weakest level for this point in the year since 2020. Overall UK job postings have also fallen by 11 per cent since the start of 2026 and remain 32 per cent below their pre-pandemic baseline, highlighting a weaker recovery than seen across the euro area and the United States.\n\nThe findings point to an increasingly divided labour market. While opportunities for graduates continue to shrink, employers are placing greater emphasis on workers with artificial intelligence skills, particularly across technical and professional occupations.\n\n## Entry-Level Hiring Continues To Slow\n\nGraduates entering the jobs market this summer face increasingly difficult conditions as employers remain cautious about recruitment amid rising employment costs and wider economic uncertainty.\n\nSummer vacancies, which provide many students with their first experience of paid work in sectors including hospitality, retail and tourism, have also fallen to their lowest level in four years. Together, weaker graduate recruitment and fewer seasonal opportunities are making it harder for younger people to gain an initial foothold in the labour market.\n\nJack Kennedy, senior economist at Indeed, said the UK labour market remained under sustained pressure, with hiring demand weakening across most sectors while advertised wage growth continued to cool.\n\nHe said the slowdown was particularly challenging for graduates and younger workers competing for a shrinking number of entry-level roles. Advertised wage growth eased to 3.9 per cent during the three months to June, marking the slowest annual increase since February 2022.\n\n## AI Skills Become Increasingly Valuable\n\nWhile recruitment has slowed across much of the labour market, [demand for artificial intelligence skills](https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/us-employers-reassess-ai-resume-hiring-1810927) has continued to grow.\n\nNearly half of all vacancies in data and analytics now mention AI, while demand has also expanded rapidly across software development, scientific research, marketing, media, finance and human resources. Overall, references to AI appeared in a record 9.4 per cent of UK job advertisements by the end of June.\n\nEmployers are increasingly looking for candidates who can use AI tools as part of their day-to-day work rather than limiting demand to specialist technology positions. At the same time, searches for AI-related jobs have risen sevenfold since the public release of ChatGPT, suggesting jobseekers are adapting to changing employer expectations.\n\nThe figures highlight a widening gap between a slowing entry-level jobs market and growing demand for AI-related skills across an increasing number of industries.\n\n## Pressure on Younger Workers\n\nThe findings come as concern grows over youth unemployment across the UK. More than one million people aged 16 to 24 are currently classed as not in education, employment or training, with around 13.5 per cent of young adults falling into the category. The research warned that entering the labour market during a prolonged hiring slowdown can have lasting consequences for earnings and career progression.\n\nThe government has pledged to align technical education and training more closely with local labour market needs, including expanding [vocational pathways for secondary school pupils](https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/decline-humanities-british-universities-career-focused-degrees-1807697).\n\nWhile ministers hope those reforms will improve long-term employment prospects, the latest research suggests graduates currently face the weakest entry-level jobs market since 2020, even as employers place growing value on [AI skills](https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ai-layoffs-small-business-ventures-1811463) across a wider range of industries.\n\n© Copyright IBTimes 2025. All rights reserved.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/uk-graduate-jobs-hit-lowest-level-since-2020-as-ai-hiring-reaches-record-high", "canonical_source": "https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/uk-graduate-job-market-decline-ai-demand-1812241", "published_at": "2026-08-04 03:50:55+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-04 03:51:34.682935+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Indeed", "Jack Kennedy", "UK government"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/uk-graduate-jobs-hit-lowest-level-since-2020-as-ai-hiring-reaches-record-high", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/uk-graduate-jobs-hit-lowest-level-since-2020-as-ai-hiring-reaches-record-high.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/uk-graduate-jobs-hit-lowest-level-since-2020-as-ai-hiring-reaches-record-high.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/uk-graduate-jobs-hit-lowest-level-since-2020-as-ai-hiring-reaches-record-high.jsonld"}}