{"text":[[{"start":7.75,"text":"Young jobseekers face a grim summer in the UK, with graduate openings at their lowest level for the time of year since the Covid-19 pandemic and seasonal work also at a four-year low."}],[{"start":19.7,"text":"Data published on Monday by Indeed, the job search website, showed postings open to new or recent graduates had fallen by about 7 per cent from last year to hit the lowest since 2020. They also remained close to the lowest on record as a share of overall postings."}],[{"start":36.95,"text":"Postings for temporary summer jobs that are often taken by young people, in areas such as tourism, events or children’s camps, were at their weakest level in four years in early July. "}],[{"start":48.25,"text":"“Students graduating this summer are entering a market where employers are pulling back on junior hiring in response to the cost pressures and uncertainty that have characterised 2026,” said Jack Kennedy, senior UK economist at Indeed. "}],[{"start":62.35,"text":"The sustained weakness in summer hiring was especially damaging to young people seeking a first foothold in the labour market, he added, because those jobs were “often where foundational workplace skills are built, including time management, customer interaction and teamwork”."}],[{"start":80.7,"text":"The figures are a sharp illustration of the battle that Prime Minister Andy Burnham will face to boost youth employment and cut the welfare bill through reforms to technical education, greater backing for apprenticeships and an expansion of state-subsidised jobs for young benefit claimants."}],[{"start":97.4,"text":"Roughly 1mn young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training, or Neet, and the latest official data shows unemployment among 18- to 24-year-olds at 14.8 per cent. "}],[{"start":111.05000000000001,"text":"Since his arrival in Number 10 last month, Burnham has set out ambitions to put vocational education on an equal footing with academic routes and announced new bursaries for young people to pursue apprenticeships without their families losing benefits. "}],[{"start":126.05000000000001,"text":"But business groups, including the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, say that for the reforms to work, the government will also need “to engage more openly with legitimate concerns about the cost and practicality of employing people”. "}],[{"start":140.9,"text":"Indeed’s data showed overall UK job postings had fallen 11 per cent since the start of the year and were now a third below their pre-pandemic baseline, in what it said was a “stark underperformance” relative to the US and euro area, where hiring is still at or above pre-pandemic levels. "}],[{"start":159.3,"text":"The decline was common to almost all occupations, Indeed noted, suggesting “hiring caution has become the default position across the economy”. "}],[{"start":167.60000000000002,"text":"The Bank of England said last week it believed there had been no growth in employment since early 2025, and that the Middle East war had made employers even more cautious. "}],[{"start":179.85000000000002,"text":"The central bank’s contacts with businesses suggested that AI adoption was leading many businesses to slow hiring or leave vacancies unfilled, with the technology set to reduce employment by about 0.4 per cent per year and boost productivity by about twice as much, its monetary policy report noted. "}],[{"start":198.70000000000002,"text":"The BoE’s agents — a network that liaises regularly with businesses across the UK — reported last month that structural changes in the economy were leading employers to cut headcount and move jobs elsewhere, while the roles available were often “lower paid or less secure”. "}],[{"start":215.20000000000002,"text":"This was leading some individuals to switch to self-employment or take on additional gig work, but employers also saw “more experienced or senior workers . . . applying for junior roles, increasing competition for younger individuals”, they added. "}],[{"start":235.8,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1785730491_1991.mp3"}