Report · October 2026

Harder to get in, but still worth it

Graduate jobs at Britain's big employers are harder to get because applications have flooded in: when applications jumped in 2023/24, vacancies rose. AI is not shown to be the main cause of the fall in jobs since 2022, and cutting graduate intake on the belief that AI makes juniors unnecessary isn't justified by the evidence.

By Ethan Teague, Insight and AI Analyst at Steadman. Edited by David Boyle, co-founder of Steadman and founder of Audience Strategies.

Download the report

Free PDF, 18 pages. Enter your email address and your download link appears here.

We use your email address to count readers. Updates only if you tick the box. We never share your details. See our privacy policy.

From the author

A note from Ethan

I joined Steadman in June 2026 for my placement year. I graduate in 2028, so the question in the report "Is AI making graduate jobs harder to get?" is extremely relevant to me.

Before most of the interviews, I wrote down my bet: AI was the main cause, and the weak economy was mostly cover. Then I tested it against the published data and 26 interviews with students, graduates, recruiters, employers, careers advisers and academics. The evidence leaned the other way, which surprised me.

This subject moves fast, and I expect some of these conclusions to change. I'll revisit the evidence every month and report what has changed. You can sign up for updates on the Steadman website.

Ethan Teague · ethanteague@audiencestrategies.com

Your thoughts

Once you've read it, we'd love to hear your thoughts

Email Ethan at ethanteague@audiencestrategies.com.

Updates

Monthly updates, newest first

A short monthly note on what has changed in graduate recruitment since the report.

No updates yet. The first is due in November 2026.