Graduate employment has slipped back to pre-Covid levels as a weakening economy depresses hiring and unwinds the temporary post-pandemic surge in opportunities, according to new research from Prospects at Jisc.
The annual What do graduates do? report, published on 25 November, shows a sharp deterioration in outcomes for the 2023 graduating cohort, who entered the labour market during a period of slowing demand and were surveyed in autumn 2024 as conditions worsened further.
Just 56.4% of graduates were in full-time work 15 months after leaving university — down 2.6 percentage points on the previous year and the lowest rate since the cohort that graduated immediately before the Covid recovery boom in 2020. The decline has continued through 2025.
Charlie Ball, head of labour market intelligence at Jisc, said post-pandemic hiring conditions had created “unrealistic expectations”.
“Many assumed the strong post-Covid jobs market was normal, but it really wasn’t,” he said. “We’ve now returned to normal labour market cycles after a few years of post-Covid exuberance. Vacancies are falling, businesses are unconfident and, with the AI bubble set to burst, recession looks more imminent.”
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