Read our latest Adzuna UK Job Market Report, June 2023
As most final-year university students finish their finals and submit their dissertations, it’s time for the class of 2023 to find their first full-time job.
Our latest Adzuna data found that while the overall job market is showing signs of rebalancing, the graduate sector is not. It’s definitely not all rainbows and sunshine out there. It will be a tough ride this year so brace yourself, fresh grads!
Fierce competition awaits the class of 2023
Graduate vacancies started off 2023 on a downward spiral, and it hasn’t improved since then. In May 2023, the UK saw 12,983 advertised graduate roles, down -1.9% month-on-month. To compare, this time last year had 11.6% more graduate jobs on offer, at 14,690 roles.
Graduate vacancies have been falling month-on-month since January 2023, when the number of advertised jobs tumbled -8.3% to 14,735 from 16,076 jobs in December 2022. Over the past five months, job options have slipped by just over a fifth (-20.8%) university leavers.
This slow decline could be driven by employers cutting hiring budgets due to the gloomy market conditions like persistent inflation, the Bank of England’s hawkish monetary policy, and general economic caution. It could be particularly disheartening to learn this when the overall job market in the country is proving more resilient, with vacancy numbers (+0.48%, 1.051 million) and advertised salaries (+0.24%, £37,750) rising for the fourth month running. In today’s cautious hiring environment, it seems graduates are getting the short end of the stick.
In terms of how long you might need to wait to get an offer, our advice is be patient and stay positive, as graduate roles are taking an average of nearly 40 days to fill. It’s among the longest wait times across all sectors. In the wider job market, roles are being filled faster than at any time since 2016 with employers taking on average just 34.9 days to fill positions across the UK – the lowest level on record.
You may wonder, why is it taking so long for an entry-level role? This could be because employers know there’s a larger pool of desperate young applicants so they’re taking their sweet time to make a decision, or it could be because employers genuinely need more time to process mountains of applications to find the best candidates. Remember, more applications mean more workload.
One last bit of bad news, the competition is fiercer than ever. With around 570,000 UK students graduating this year according to figures from HESA, around 44 graduates will be vying for every available opportunity this summer, up from 36 graduates per role a year ago.
While the job market at the moment is not favouring fresh graduates, it’s important to keep in mind that there are still opportunities available. Graduates just need to act fast and keep pushing forward – meaning if you see a job you’re interested in, apply immediately to get top of the application pile. There’s no room for procrastination. You snooze, you lose!
Bigger first pay cheque this year
The bright side for graduates is that average annual graduate salaries have been steadily increasing over the past 12 months. In May 2023, this figure hit £27,802. That’s a 0.49% increase compared to April and a solid 6.62% jump from this time last year! Let this stat be your motivation to put on your game face and keep applying for new roles.
Where to look for graduate jobs?
If money is your top motivation, consider looking for jobs in Northern Ireland. For the fourth consecutive month, Northern Ireland is taking the lead with the highest year-on-year average advertised salary increase (+9.4%) across all sectors. Wales and Yorkshire and the Humber came closely after, with an 8% year-on-year increase in average advertised salaries.
Looking at opportunities for graduates only, the average salary in Northern Ireland is £28,702 – pretty decent! Meanwhile, there’s still a long way to go for Wales (£25,574) and Yorkshire and the Humber (26,923), as their average grad salaries are not as competitive as others.
Among all regions in the UK, London is the only one where you might get a smaller pay cheque than the class of 2022. That said, average pay packets in the capital still beat all other regions. The average grad salary in London is currently £30,599.
Advertised vacancies and salaries of graduate jobs, by region
| Region | Advertised vacancies | Average advertised salary |
|---|---|---|
| London | 4,021 | £30,599 |
| South East England | 1,536 | £26,387 |
| North West England | 1,304 | £26,360 |
| South West England | 1,027 | £26,741 |
| Eastern England | 839 | £26,083 |
| West Midlands | 779 | £26,575 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 662 | £26,934 |
| Scotland | 479 | £27,989 |
| East Midlands | 471 | £27,003 |
| Wales | 268 | £25,574 |
| North East England | 191 | £23,197 |
| Northern Ireland | 112 | £28,702 |
If you just want to get started in the “real world”, consider getting a job in Cambridge. Despite the continued drop in salaries, Cambridge remains the best place to get a job in the UK, with more than 9,000 advertised roles and around 0.26 jobseekers per vacancy. While London tends to be a salary powerhouse, Cambridge is catching up! The advertised salary in Cambridge is £39,404, not too far from London’s £44,213!
While Cambridge is known as a student city, it doesn’t mean there are only teaching roles available. There are also tech jobs such as trainee software developers, sales and marketing roles or engineering jobs like electronics engineers and product support engineers up for grabs. Other areas with low competition for jobs include Guildford (0.35), Exeter (0.43), and Oxford (0.55).
Read our full UK Job Market Report here.
About our data
Our monthly Adzuna UK Job Market Report provides the most up to date snapshot of employment opportunities across the country, based on every job vacancy advertised online in the UK from over 1,000 sources, across all UK regions. We also supply real-time data to the Number 10 Dashboard, the Cabinet Office and the Office for National Statistics labour market indices.
Ready to buckle up and put on your game face? Start your job search on Adzuna.
Read more: Which universities produce the highest-earning graduates?