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UK graduate job vacancies drop to lowest level since 2016

Data from job portal Adzuna shows advertised entry-level roles fell by roughly 45% to 50% year-on-year in July amidst rising employer costs and AI adoption.

Updated Aug 24, 2026 · 11:42 UTC2 reports

The short version

  • UK graduate job listings fell to 8,383 in July, marking a decline of approximately 45% to 50% compared to July 2025.
  • Businesses attribute the hiring pullback to increased labor costs—including higher minimum wages and national insurance contributions—as well as greater reliance on artificial intelligence.
  • The slump in entry-level openings comes as official statistics report roughly one million young adults in the UK are not in education, employment, or training.

Key facts

  • Adzuna listed 8,383 UK graduate vacancies in July, down from over 15,000 at the same point in 2025.[The Guardian · BBC News]
  • The July graduate vacancy total is the lowest recorded by Adzuna since the company began tracking the data in 2016.[The Guardian · BBC News]
  • Overall job competition rose to an average of 2.14 applicants per vacancy in July, up from 1.93 a year earlier.[BBC News]
  • Official figures show the youth unemployment rate for 16-to-24-year-olds stood at 16.2% in the three months through March 2026, with over one million young people classified as NEET (not in education, employment, or training).[The Guardian · BBC News]
  • Employers cited rising costs from higher minimum wages and employer national insurance contributions alongside AI investment as factors reducing entry-level hiring.[The Guardian · BBC News]
  • Job openings increased in teaching, travel, construction, and manufacturing, while postings fell in healthcare, nursing, hospitality, and logistics.[The Guardian · BBC News]

What remains uncertain

  • The precise proportion of entry-level job cuts directly caused by artificial intelligence adoption versus government policy tax and wage increases remains unspecified.[The Guardian · BBC News]

Sources