Young people are bearing the brunt of the UK’s weak labour market, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Some 16.1% of people aged 16 to 24 are not able to find work, compared to a national unemployment figure of 5.1%.
That does not include young people who are out of work but not looking for a job, due to ill health or who are still studying.
Businesses, particularly in sectors that traditionally gave young people their first jobs, like retail and hospitality, say higher costs are leading them to cut staff or not take on new hires, which often hits young workers the hardest.
But graduate-level roles are also proving harder to land.
Lucy Gabb is currently working in a cafe in London while trying to break into the publishing industry. She graduated from Cambridge University in July 2025.
“Entry-level jobs are just so competitive and they’re asking for experience that is just impossible to get whilst you’re also studying,” she said.
She says she has applied for more than 50 roles but only one has resulted in a face-to-face interview.
“All my friends are talking about is the job search. It can be really soul-destroying when you study for so long and you don’t get anywhere,” she said.
Businesses argue that government policies, including a rise in the minimum wage, have pushed up their costs.
But beyond that, employers are also increasingly citing artificial intelligence (AI) as the reason for layoffs.
AI is able to take on some time-consuming work such as processing data, implementing detailed instructions, or writing basic reports and communications, tasks which are often associated with first-job roles.
Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said that “for young people in particular, already struggling to get their first taste of work, AI could result in a scarcity of entry-level posts”.
Many jobseekers are also using AI to write applications, to help them increase the number they can apply for. Hiring teams are in turn using it to screen CVs — and, in some cases, even conduct interviews.