Stephen Isherwood, joint CEO, Institute of Student Employers responds to the Adzuna data released 24 August 2026 that shows a 45% year-on-year decline in graduate job vacancies.
"The 45% fall in graduate vacancies reported by Adzuna is clearly concerning, but it’s important to be careful about what this figure actually tells us.
“Online adverts for jobs classified as ‘graduate vacancies’ are not the same thing as the total number of jobs available to graduates, or the number of graduates employers are actually recruiting. Graduates compete for a much wider range of entry-level and professional roles, while employers do not necessarily advertise every graduate opportunity as a ‘graduate vacancy’.
“There is no doubt that the graduate labour market is challenging and competition for jobs is intense. But we shouldn’t automatically interpret a 45% fall in one measure of online advertising as a 45% fall in graduate employment opportunities. The real question is what employers are actually doing with their graduate recruitment.
“A fall in the number of job adverts placed by employers may be due, in part, to other reasons. They could advertise less frequently because they receive such a high number of applications, or they don’t advertise at all as they source direct through platforms such as LinkedIn.
"Our recruitment survey last year showed graduate vacancies fell 8% and we are in no doubt the market is tough again this year. Our 2026 data will help understand whether the reported fall in advertised graduate vacancies is translating into a comparable fall in actual graduate recruitment."
ISE Student Recruitment Survey 2026 will be published 14 October 2026.