UK graduate job openings at lowest level since 2020

Job openings aimed at new or recent graduates in the United Kingdom are down about 7 percent from last year, at their lowest level since 2020, according to data published on Monday.

Seasonal opportunities for young people look bleak too, with adverts for temporary summer roles — common in tourism, events, and children's camps — at their weakest in four years last month.

The research, shared by the job website Indeed, also shows adverts open to new or recent graduates remained close to the lowest level on record as a share of overall postings.

"Students graduating this summer are entering a market where employers are pulling back on junior hiring in response to the cost pressures and uncertainty that have characterized 2026," said Jack Kennedy, senior UK economist at Indeed.

The squeeze is falling hardest on career starters, as recent falls in payroll employment have been centered in retail and hospitality — the sectors that disproportionately employ young people.

"With youth unemployment already at a decade high, the data paints a concerning picture for a generation trying to establish a foothold in the labor market at one of its most challenging moments in recent memory," wrote Kennedy in his report.

Beyond the immediate income effect, the danger is that delayed career starts compound as research consistently shows that entering a weak labor market can depress earnings and slow career progression for years beyond the initial job search.

"For students and school leavers, a summer job is often where foundational workplace skills are built, including time management, customer interaction, and teamwork, and where an employment history begins," the report said. "A sustained period of weak summer hiring risks delaying the accumulation of those experiences and skills at precisely the moment when those early career investments are most valuable."

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces a steep challenge to raise youth employment and curb welfare costs, even as he pursues reforms to technical education, expands support for apprenticeships, and plans statesubsidized roles for young benefit claimants, reported the Financial Times.

About 1 million young people in the UK are not in education, employment, or training, and unemployment among 18 to 24-year-olds is 14.8 percent, official figures show.

Since taking office last month, Burnham has pledged to put vocational education on a par with academic routes and introduced bursaries to help apprentices train without families losing welfare benefits.

Indeed reported that overall UK job listings have fallen 11 percent since the start of the year and now stand at about 32 percent below their pre-pandemic baseline — an outcome it calls a "stark underperformance" compared with the United States and euro zone, where hiring is back to or above pre-COVID levels. The weakness is broad-based across occupations, suggesting a general tilt toward hiring caution has become the default position across the economy.