UK graduates lose out as Al 'fills' entry-level jobs

Graduating is - almost universally - a humbling experience.

- Isabel Woodford

But it’s been particularly so for the class of 2025. Entry-level job vacancies in the UK have slumped to their lowest since 2018, according to recruitment platform Adzuna, prompting “record competition”.

Last year in the UK there were an average of 140 applications per graduate job. In the US, Big Tech’s grad-hiring has dropped by a quarter since 2023.

Some graduates blame artificial intelligence (AI). They talk of declining vacancies at the “big four” accountancy firms, where entry-level roles are down 11-29% this year. Reddit threads swarm with graduates voicing concerns.

The fear is that AI is now capable of repetitive tasks like data cleaning, draft writing, and admin - long seen as professional rites of passage. Some HR managers admit they prefer using AI to graduates for so-called grunt work.