A generation risks being put off university just when we need graduates most Opinion Current public debate, with headlines about student debt, graduate underemployment and a supposedly collapsing graduate jobs market risk the impression that university is no longer a worthwhile investment When Daniela Amodei, co-founder of world-leading AI firm Anthropic, was asked recently whether she regretted her English literature degree, her answer was unequivocal: no. In fact, she [...]
Graduates are the canary in the coalmine for a failing welfare system Opinion The welfare state is a Ponzi scheme that’s dependent on an ever shrinking cohort of taxpayers, says Anne Strickland Discussion about student loan unfairness has dominated the headlines over the last month, after a freeze in the repayment thresholds led to a backlash about the student loan system in general. With fiscal drag pulling more [...]
Will this year’s university cohort be able to get a job? Opinion At a time when many university students are revising for their final exams, data from the Office for National Statistics highlights a sharp slowdown in entry-level hiring, leaving this year’s cohort facing growing uncertainty about what awaits them after graduation, says Rod Flavell With just three months to go before exams and the transition into [...]
OpenAI investor calls for tax overhaul as AI reshapes jobs market March 29, 2026 An early investor in OpenAI has called for a radical overhaul of the US tax system in anticipation that the rise of AI will necessitate a shift from taxing labour to taxing capital. American businessman and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla has said that as the accelerated automation of the workforce fuels public anxiety over job [...]
James Reed: V-levels are Labour’s best idea yet March 25, 2026 Middle-class prejudice towards vocational paths has held the UK back. I welcome Labour's V-level push, writes James Reed.
UK jobs market ‘facing sustained shocks’ March 9, 2026 The Labour government is facing a rallying cry to ease the cost burden on businesses to avoid derailing a recovery in the jobs market. The latest jobs report from KPMG and the REC, the professional body for recruiters, showed hiring for permanent roles reaching a stabilising point in February with the pace of declines the [...]
UK unemployment will surpass pandemic high, says JP Morgan February 24, 2026 UK unemployment will brush past its peak in the Covid-19 pandemic, Wall Street’s biggest bank has predicted, as employer’s still feel the brunt of Rachel Reeves’ cash grabs. The rate of unemployed Brits is tipped to reach 5.5 per cent by the late spring, according to a forecast by JP Morgan, which would mark an [...]
The many ways the system is failing graduates like me February 19, 2026 Graduates are facing a two-pronged attack from a shrinking jobs market and an expanding welfare state that actively incentivises us to live off benefits, says Oliver Dean In recent weeks, the graduate crisis has garnered significant attention. As someone set to graduate this summer, I am in the same boat as hundreds of thousands of [...]
Starmer sticks to youth minimum wage pledge despite jobs fears February 18, 2026 The government will stick to the Labour party’s manifesto commitment to equalise the minimum wage despite speculation it would row back on the pledge over unemployment fears, the Prime Minister has said. Speaking on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer said: “We’ve made commitments to young people in our manifesto, and we will keep to those commitments, [...]
Cost of hiring graduates shot up after Reeves’ tax raids February 4, 2026 The cost of hiring graduates and other young Brits in entry-level roles increased by seven per cent in real terms after Chancellor Rachel Reeves hiked employers’ national insurance and raised the national living wage, economists have found. A new set of forecasts and analysis by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) has [...]