Graduate vacancies in the UK are down around 45% year on year, with each opening now attracting hundreds of applicants as the bottom rung of the career ladder narrows.
Automating the first job
Some 38% of employers say they plan to hire fewer graduates specifically because of AI, as the entry level tasks that once trained junior staff, from research to drafting, are increasingly automated.
The structural risk is subtle. If firms stop hiring and training juniors, they may find themselves short of experienced staff later, having removed the rung people once used to climb.
The longest downturn
In March, the chief executive of recruiter Robert Walters described the slump as the longest hiring downturn his industry has experienced, longer than the financial crisis and longer than the pandemic.
