Graduates in the UK face a challenging employment market as AI changes hiring

The jobs market in UK for graduates is highly competitive in the present time than it has ever been before. This surge in competition is primarily attributed to two key factors: a slowing labour market and the expansion and integration of artificial intelligence into the job markets.

For the year 2024, employers who provided graduate training schemes stated that they had received on average 140 applications per vacancy. This has escalated by a standard deviation of 59% whether it is from the previous year, 2023, illustrating that apparently there are graduates flocking very few available positions.

Traditionally, competition amongst graduates for jobs has been keen over the years given that hiring in the UK had been scaled down. This trend is however more so in sectors where high remunerations are paid and where entry level positions exist two well known sectors are IT and consulting. However, there was a 4% increase in graduate vacancies in major employers that were sampled in the past one year, this is however lower than the 6% reported in the previous year.

However, details concerning various sectors indicate far worst figures. For example, the number of graduates hired in large employers was still growing steadily, the number of graduates hired in digital and IT sector became 35% lower. Likewise, the planned decline in graduate recruitment was observed, with the financial and professional services organisations reducing their intake of graduates by 5%. This has come as a blow for graduates as they struggle to secureshort high quality jobs in the major sectors that are constantly shrinking.

In the future, the prospects for employment and newly qualified graduates seem rather unfavourable. The available positions are expected to reach only an additional 1% in the next twelve months. This modest increase is mainly due to continuing concerns about its economic environment and possible changes in government policies.

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