The job market for entry-level workers in the UK hasn't been this tough in years

The UK occupation marketplace is looking grim for group caller retired of university.

According to the latest UK Job Market Report from job-matching level Adzuna, the company's scale — which aggregates online listings from much than 1,000 sources — counted an mean of 8,383 unrecorded UK postgraduate vacancies successful July.

That's down 45.6% from July 2025 and the lowest level since Adzuna launched the monthly bid successful April 2016. The fig has collapsed from much than 55,000 astatine its mid-2017 peak.

Adzuna's broader entry-level class was little stark but still weak, falling 8.1% twelvemonth complete year. Across the market, vacancies besides declined, while title for each opening increased.

"July's numbers are a measurement backwards, not a blip," Andrew Hunter, Adzuna's cofounder, said successful a property merchandise connected Monday.

"We'd been watching things amended gradually for months, but that stopped successful July. The postgraduate occupation marketplace besides keeps mounting caller lows, which tells america employers still haven't recovered a logic to unfastened up hiring astatine that level."

Findings from Indeed besides constituent to a diminution successful listings, albeit a little melodramatic one. In a study published connected the 3rd of August, Indeed said postings pinch "graduate" successful the title were down astir 7% twelvemonth complete twelvemonth arsenic of July 10, their lowest level for that constituent successful the twelvemonth since 2020.

The compression reflects much than 1 problem. Employers are contending pinch a sluggish economy, higher costs, and uncertainty. AI is besides reshaping the bottommost rungs of the profession ladder by taking connected regular activity erstwhile assigned to inferior employees.

A PwC analysis, released successful June and based connected much than 1 cardinal occupation ads globally, recovered that US entry-level roles exposed to AI were 7 times much apt to require traditionally senior-level skills than comparable roles were successful 2019.

Companies are responding successful different ways. EY has turned an eight-week internship into a yearlong residency to build judgement and critical-thinking skills, while PwC's UK limb cut its postgraduate intake amid economical weakness, AI, and offshoring.

There are agleam spots for entry-level workers: IBM, LinkedIn, and different employers are expanding early-career engineering programs, betting that AI-native graduates can beryllium an advantage.