ChatGPT wipes out entry level jobs
Vacancies for graduate roles, apprenticeships, internships, and junior positions have decreased by more than 30 per cent since ChatGPT emerged at the end of 2022.
The research by Adzuna follows a warning last month from the Chief Executive of artificial intelligence heavyweight Anthropic, Dario Amodei, who said that AI could eliminate up to 50 per cent of all entry-level white-collar jobs within the next five years.
Chancellor Reeves has spoken about her ambition to ensure young people are “supported to find earnings or learnings” after millions saw their hopes of a “brighter future dashed” by the previous government.
But data compiled by the job search engine has revealed advertised vacancies for graduates are at their lowest since July 2020, when the UK economy was still grappling with the pandemic.
Entry-level jobs, which also include apprenticeships or junior jobs, fell by as much as 31.89 per cent in two and a half years.
Adzuna’s research comes as job platform Indeed reported graduate jobs to be at their weakest level in seven years, while Big Four consultancies Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG were replacing graduate-level jobs with AI technology.
Adzuna also revealed that the decline of entry-level jobs came as the average advertised UK salary grew by as much as 9.4 per cent in the year to May, far higher than the inflation rate of 3.4 per cent.
The average annual earnings advertised are now £42,403, with roles in teaching and logistics leading the pack in terms of wage growth.
Jobs in London saw among the lowest changes in salary growth of all UK regions, with only South West England increasing by a smaller amount.
Graduate jobs on more worrying trend
Adzuna’s findings are slightly more positive than official statistics, with annual growth in vacancies remaining positive.
The Office for National Statistics said total estimated vacancies were down by around 16.9 per cent between March and May 2025 compared to the same period a year ago.
It also said the estimated number of workforce jobs in the UK was higher than seen last year.
Azuna co-founder Andrew Hunter suggested that the new data was an indicator of the UK labour market strengthening.
“May reinforced the sense that the job market in the UK is gradually regaining its footing,” Hunter said.
“While overall vacancies dipped slightly [on a monthly basis], we’ve now seen three straight months of annual vacancy growth – a clear shift after more than a year of decline.
Jobs which saw the greatest demand were in healthcare and sales assistants, while software developers re-entered the top five.
Researchers suggested that the “fluctuating appearance” of some skilled jobs could be seen as generally reflective of firms’ desire to employ talented workers.
But there were some worries around a sharp decline in the number of vacancies for healthcare and nursing following the announcement on the end of care worker visas.
“While certain sectors remain in strong demand and provide a backbone of stability, we will be keeping a close eye on the decline in roles for the previously steady healthcare and nursing sector and how that may play out over the coming months,” Hunter said.