Increased industrial penetration of artificial intelligence (AI), along with the other forms of automation, has resulted in over a third of British employers reducing the number of entry-level jobs open to younger workers since 2025.
The outcome, which emerged from the survey of Lancaster University’s Work Foundation, revealed that almost half of larger employers said they had fewer vacancies than a year ago.
“Youth are entering one of the toughest labour markets in years, facing intense competition for a shrinking number of entry-level jobs and fewer opportunities to get a secure foothold in work,” said Work Foundation Director Ben Harrison.
Some 36% of the participant firms said they had reduced the number of entry-level jobs, ranging from 24% of small businesses to 48% and 46% of medium and larger employers.
At the same point in time, 24% of small firms said AI and automation had lowered the number of jobs available, rising to 58% and 60% of larger firms.
“73% of employers said it was harder for young people to find work than five years ago,” the report, prepared on the basis of a survey of 1,001 businesses, conducted from May 7 to May 20, stated further.
The study comes two months after the publication of the British government’s May 2026 report, which warned of a risk of a “lost generation” of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET).
“More than one million people aged 16-24 were counted as NEET in the first quarter of 2026, the most since late 2013,” the data stated back then.
As per the Work Foundation, which also verified the official figures, overall job vacancies in the three months to July were the lowest since February-April 2021 at 707,000.
Job website Adzuna said recently that the number of roles in July seeking graduates in their job description was down 49% from a year earlier
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has urged the government to reverse some payroll tax rises in October’s budget and scale back a planned tightening of employment laws to tackle youth unemployment.