British hiring fell in the first six months of 2026 with job postings for graduates at their lowest since 2020, according to a survey from recruitment platform Indeed.

Key Findings

Job postings fell by 11% between the start of 2026 and July 17 and were 32% lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Advertised wage growth cooled to 3.9% annually in the three months to June, the slowest since February 2022. Graduate job postings were down 7% year-on-year as of July 10 and were at their lowest level for the time of the year since 2020.

At the end of June, AI or related tools and programmes appeared in 9.4% of UK job postings, a record high. Britain has faced a worsening youth unemployment crisis since the pandemic, with more than a million 16-to-24-year-olds not in education, employment or training.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.