Graduate hiring in the United Kingdom has fallen 8 percent since 2024 and apprenticeship hiring has risen by 8 percent, as the biggest graduate employers cut recruitment for a second consecutive year amid cost pressures and economic uncertainty, a new survey has found.

Figures released on Wednesday from the Institute of Student Employers, or ISE, mark the first year-on-year fall in graduate jobs since 2020 and show the difficulties young people are facing in breaking into the UK jobs market.

The ISE polled 155 of its largest member companies that brought more than 31,000 entrants onto structured graduate and apprenticeship programs during the 2024-25 hiring round, the PA News Agency reported.

Stephen Isherwood, joint chief executive of the ISE, said: "The balance between graduate and apprentice hiring is shifting for a number of employers as they look to diversify how they get talent into the business to meet skills shortages.

"This is a tough job market, but this doesn't mean there's no hiring at all. Our data shows that 92 percent of graduate hiring continues as normal. The current situation is difficult, but not as bad as the 2008 financial crash or during the pandemic."

Larger organizations tend to of fer programs across law, accountancy, technology, finance, engineering, pharmaceuticals, retail, charities, and the public sector, noted the Financial Times newspaper.

The steepest declines in graduate recruitment were in pharmaceuticals and IT, the ISE said. The largest employers are hiring more school-leaver apprentices in place of graduates, added Isherwood.

He said this seems to be a response to policy changes that will stop big companies using the apprenticeship levy to fund higher-level courses for existing workers.

This year's survey put the median graduate starting salary at 33,000 pounds ($44,000), which was up 2 percent year-on-year, and 24,000 pounds for school and college leavers, which was up 3 percent.

Employers received 140 applications for each graduate role, which was unchanged from last year but well above the 86 recorded in 2022/23. School-leaver roles drew 89 applications per vacancy.

The ISE said tougher competition has been pushing graduates to apply for more vacancies, which it added is a longer-term shift reinforced by easier online applications and by roughly a quarter of employers scrapping minimum academic requirements.

PA quoted a government spokesperson as saying higher education delivers strong returns for most graduates but is not the only route, adding that ministers are expanding "multiple pathways" through "high-quality apprenticeships, further education and universities".