Tech Industry Grad Hiring Crashes 46% As Bots Do Junior Work
ai-pocalypse The UK tech sector is cutting graduate jobs dramatically – down 46 percent in the past year, with another 53 percent drop projected, according to figures from the Institute of Student Employers (ISE).
The culprit? AI is already doing the entry-level work graduates used to perform like routine coding, data analysis, and basic digital tasks. Companies still need tech talent, but they’re hiring experienced workers instead of training newcomers.
According to overall figures from ISE, graduate hiring has fallen by 8 percent year-on-year – the first time graduate jobs have fallen since the 12 percent decline during the pandemic in 2020. Yet it is the tech and pharma business sectors that are hardest hit.
Stephen Isherwood, ISE joint chief executive, said AI was already displacing young professionals as some commentators had feared.
“It is a tough market for students and young people in general. There is not much churn in the labor market and young people are suffering,” he told the Financial Times.
Tech still dominates graduate recruitment in terms of the roles organizations are looking to fill. IT, digital, and AI positions were the most sought-after among recruiters, with 46 percent of organizations across the economy looking to hire these skills.
The survey also showed that AI is not yet deeply embedded in the graduate recruitment process. Oh, the irony.
ISE found that while over half of employers use automated systems to fully manage some aspects of testing, AI use is very rare. Employers are most likely to use AI in gamified assessments, but even there the adoption rate is only 15 percent. AI adoption is likely to increase, particularly as students make greater use of technology in the application process.

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READ MOREEmployers are also likely to guard against job applicants cheating with AI – 79 percent said they were redesigning or reviewing their recruitment processes because of AI developments. However, only 15 percent of employers said they never suspected or identified candidates cheating in assessments.
The figures from ISE indicate that the tech industry is eating its own dog food. This year, Salesforce, Workday, and others revealed they were cutting thousands of jobs and deploying AI in their wake. Microsoft announced plans to lop 10,000 heads from the workforce and use new technologies instead.
The trend seen in the UK graduate sector creates a vicious cycle. Graduates can’t get the first role they need to gain experience, which means fewer mid-level professionals in five years.
If correct, the survey indicates that AI is starting to close the entry door to tech careers faster than anyone expected. Companies are making short-term efficiency gains at the expense of their long-term talent pipeline, and graduates are seemingly caught in the middle. ®
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