Are there really fewer graduate jobs than there used to be?

Are there fewer graduate jobs than there used to be?

Yes, there are fewer graduate vacancies being advertised than there were at the post-pandemic peak, and in some datasets, fewer than before Covid too.

But this certainly doesn't mean graduates are out of options. It means the market is tighter, more competitive, and a bit more creative in where opportunity shows up. But grads still carry a large advantage over those who didn't enter higher education: according to an ONS study, the percentage of 2023 grads still unemployed after 15 months was up from 5.6% to 6.2%, which is dwarfed by the wider youth unemployment rate of 15.3%.

The clearest big-picture signal comes from the wider labour market. The ONS said UK vacancies were around 721,000 in December 2025 to February 2026, down year on year and below the pre-pandemic level seen in early 2020. Adzuna’s latest market report also described overall advertised vacancies as the lowest for five years. In other words, this is not just a graduate problem; employers across the economy have been hiring more cautiously.

When you zoom in on graduates, the picture gets sharper. Indeed’s Hiring Lab said in June 2025 that the share of graduate jobs was the lowest since at least 2018, and the Financial Times reported that roles advertised for recent graduates were 33% lower than a year earlier and 12% below 2023 levels. High Fliers’ graduate market research has also pointed in the same direction: the UK’s top 100 graduate employers cut hiring by 5.1% in 2025 and forecast a further slight dip in 2026, taking vacancies to their lowest level since 2012.

So yes, there really are fewer traditional graduate jobs than there used to be… which begs the question:

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Do degrees still hold value when applying for jobs?

Here is the part that often gets missed: a tougher graduate market is not the same thing as a weak graduate future. Government data still shows graduates outperform non-graduates in employment outcomes. In 2024, 87.6% of working-age graduates were in employment, and 67.9% were in high-skilled work. That suggests the degree absolutely still has labour-market value, even if the first step after university feels harder than it did a few years ago. That is exactly why graduates should widen the lens on what a “graduate career” looks like, and aim to pick up soft skills to compete against the increased number of applicants for graduate roles.

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Graduates need to be open to more career pathways

If you have only been thinking about the obvious graduate schemes in finance, consulting, law or the civil service, you could be missing strong careers in sectors built around communication, commercial awareness and relationship-building. Recruitment is one of them. The REC says the recruitment industry contributed £40.6 billion to the UK economy in 2025, and the National Careers Service highlights multiple routes into the profession, including direct entry, work experience and a Recruiter Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship.

For graduates, recruitment can be a particularly smart option in a slower market. Why? Because it gives you exposure to industries, employers and hiring trends in real time. You learn how businesses make decisions, what skills are in demand, how to build credibility quickly and how to turn conversations into outcomes. For someone unsure about their next move, that can be more valuable than waiting six months for the “perfect” graduate scheme to reopen.

So, are there fewer graduate jobs than there used to be? Yes. The statistics back that up. But the better question for 2026 is not just “Where have the graduate jobs gone?” It is: which careers are still growing, still hiring and still open to ambitious graduates who can learn fast? And as a pathway where graduates can take home huge annual earnings, achieve promotions and develop their skills - recruitment deserves to be on that list.

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Sources

ONS, Vacancies and jobs in the UK: February/March 2026 (Office for National Statistics)

Adzuna, UK Job Market Report and UK youth employment crisis: The perfect storm of 2025 (Adzuna)

Indeed Hiring Lab, UK Mid-Year Labour Market Update 2025 (Indeed Hiring Lab)

Financial Times, UK graduate job openings at lowest level since 2018 (Financial Times)

High Fliers / University of Manchester summary of The Graduate Market in 2026 (The University of Manchester)

Department for Education, Graduate labour market statistics (Explore Education Statistics)

REC, Recruitment Industry Status Report 2024/25 (The REC)

National Careers Service, Recruitment consultant (National Careers Service)