{"id":24487,"date":"2026-02-11T17:58:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=24487"},"modified":"2026-02-11T17:58:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:58:23","slug":"uk-youth-employment-crisis-the-perfect-storm-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.uk\/blog\/uk-youth-employment-crisis-the-perfect-storm-of-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"UK youth employment crisis: The perfect storm of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nick Litsardopoulos, Research Economist, IES.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

The UK labour market faces unprecedented challenges with unemployment, particularly for young workers and graduates. What emerges is a troubling picture of declining opportunities, structural shifts, and a generation at risk.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Demand Collapse<\/h2>\n

The UK labour market has experienced a persistent downward trend in job demand over the last three years. Most strikingly, graduate positions have plummeted. In <\/span>2025 alone graduate positions were reduced by 33%,<\/span><\/a> reaching the lowest level since 2018. This marks the second consecutive year of decline, creating fierce competition as previous cohorts continue struggling to find suitable employment. <\/span>The Resolution Foundation<\/span><\/a> has reported that job mobility rates are now lower than in the 1980s, signalling a fundamental shift in labour market dynamics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Industry Analysis: The Paradox of Rising Salaries<\/h2>\n

Data from the <\/span>Adzuna intelligence portal<\/span><\/a> reveals a troubling paradox across major industries between 2024 and 2025. The data allows us to examine the demand in graduate job roles across major industrial sectors along with the median salary offered in these sectors. According to the job advertisement data between 2024 and 2025 the median salaries have increased in industries associated with the Arts entertainment and recreation, Human health and social work, Information and communication, the broader Public administration activities (including Defence), and Wholesale\/Retail trade. However, in each of these industries Demand has decreased; and on some occasions, like the Information and communications sector, it has decreased quite substantially.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Figure 1. Demand and Median Salaries for graduate jobs across major industries<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Graduate Outcomes: Underemployment Epidemic<\/h2>\n

The UK graduate roles statistics paint a sobering picture:<\/span><\/p>\n