Retail and graduate job vacancies continue to plummet
Retail and graduate vacancies fell further in April despite overall improvement in the number of available UK jobs.
UK vacancies dipped 0.95 per cent in April to 862,876, but annual growth remained positive at 1.02 per cent, according to Adzuna’s latest jobs report.
Average advertised salaries hit a new record of £42,278 – up 0.75 per cent month on month and 8.94 per cent year on year, the strongest annual growth since June 2022.
Despite the positive overall picture, sectors most impacted by last October’s Autumn budget continued to struggle.
The number of retail jobs fell by 39 per cent year on year, while logistics vacancies were down 22 per cent and scientific roles down 17 per cent.
Graduate vacancies, too, fell 7.6 per cent, marking a 22.8 per cent year on year fall as cautious employers reduce their number of entry-level positions.
The sectors offering the biggest graduate openings in April were customer services, teaching, IT and healthcare.
Retail picks tech over entry-level roles
The state of Britain’s high streets has been a hot topic for nearly a decade, with concerns the sector is stuck in a ‘permacrisis’.
The retail sector lost 225,000 jobs between 2019 and 2025, according to the ONS.
The Retail Jobs Alliance warned in January that a further 300,000 retail jobs could disappear in the next three years due to rising costs and regulation.
Firms operating on razor-thin margins have seen profits wiped with the introduction of higher employer’s national insurance contributions (NICs) and a higher minimum wage.
The sector, which accounts for around 10 per cent of all UK jobs, appears to have turned to tech and efficiency drives instead of expansion through hiring.
The growing power and cheaper relative cost of tech have automation a more commercially viable option to deal with cost pressures.
There has also been an increase in the number of retail companies going under, with insolvencies up 10 per cent month on month in March, according to RSM.
Despite the lack of roles available, Adzuna found that demand for retail jobs has risen in the last year.
“[There’s a] growing appetite for stable, accessible jobs across sectors like retail and admin support [over white collar jobs], Adzuna said.
Overall job market cause for optimism
Despite the gloomy retail and graduate figures, the wider picture for the jobs market looks strong.
“The broader trends are still heading in the right direction,” Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said.
“Demand remains particularly high in healthcare, logistics, and teaching, and the strength of these sectors is helping stabilise the market overall. The recovery is real and we’re seeing progress, just not at full speed yet,” he added.
According to the latest figures from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the market is particularly strong in London.
The capital was one of only two regions across the UK to have seen a rise in job postings, up 1.7 per cent in April compared to the month before.