Welcome to the first Best of Bylines newsletter of the week, bringing you a standout story from one of our 10 UK national and regional publications.
Why has it become such a struggle for university graduates to find work?
In an article that will resonate with many young people and their families, Tetiana Toma makes a direct and personal appeal to the UK government and potential employers.
Having graduated in 2025, Tetiana is well qualified, has volunteering experience, and has a raft of articles published by Kent and Surrey Bylines. Like most recent graduates, she wants to develop herself and to do something useful. Here, she investigates why she and many others are struggling to find post-university work.
In 2019, I began studying law at Queen Mary University of London. In 2021, I moved to Paris to study at Pantheon-Sorbonne University as part of my course. During my academic studies, I faced problems – difficult studies, fatigue, lack of sleep, and not passing exams. I endured all of this because I believed, in the end, I would be rewarded with a stable job, allowing me to earn money to meet my basic needs and eventually gain financial independence from my family. So, when I finished my studies in July 2025, I embarked on a search for a job or for opportunities to gain work experience.
From November until May, I volunteered. It is now June 2026, and I have just secured my first job as a freelance interpreter. The main skill that made me suitable for the job was being a native Ukrainian speaker. Despite this, my search continues for other opportunities, in another job or in work experience.
When I see the news about youth unemployment, I know the challenges they face, because I am one of them. I know the feeling of being forgotten, and that a willingness to work and make something of our lives is not respected. I know the feeling of many graduates: that their hard work and efforts in earning their degree are not being rewarded.
Over the last few months, the media has been speaking about the rise in youth unemployment. Young people who are not in education, employment or training are labelled as ‘Neets’, and those same young people have been sharing their own experiences of struggling to get a job, with their job applications being rejected or receiving no response at all. There is talk of the risk of a ‘lost generation’ and of how young people are facing fewer opportunities for jobs and education.
The reasons have been various: low economic growth, businesses’ financial constraints, the popularity of AI (which is slowly replacing human work), the reluctance of businesses to hire people without work experience or desired skills, and the mental health crisis amongst young people.
Graduates have become part of the unemployed youth as there has been a sharp decrease in graduate jobs. Many graduates have dedicated their time to their studies, leaving little scope to pursue valuable work experience. The outcome: some graduates are either unemployed or working jobs unrelated to their degrees.
The statistics show that over 700,000 graduates are unemployed and claiming benefits. The graduate statistics for 2025/26 show that 56.4% of graduates were in full-time employment after graduation, while 6.2% were unemployed or due to start work. The others were working part-time, pursuing further studies or volunteering.
A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has revealed that around a quarter of graduates would be financially worse off upon completing their degrees, but this also depends on the course, as those who take creative and performing arts degrees are expected to be hit the most.
We see that for many graduates, the ambition to find a fulfilling, stable job that will allow them to utilise the skills and knowledge gained from their degrees does not become a reality. Many graduates have to either work a job that does not require their degree, face unemployment, or pursue other opportunities such as further study or volunteering.
An inquiry shows that 34% of people in the UK say that university is not worth the amount of time and money, while 36% agree that a university degree makes life better for the graduates.
A YouGov poll asked participants whether they would choose to go to university or pursue an apprenticeship if they were 18 years old again; only 33% chose university, while 51% chose an apprenticeship, and 7% chose neither. Another similar YouGov poll asked people whether they would choose university or another career path; only 35% said that they would go to university.
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We see that the university degree has lost its reputation as the best ticket to a stable, financially rewarding career, as other options, like going straight into work after A-levels or taking an apprenticeship are readily available to young people.
There also exists a split between the courses and their financial rewards, as some courses offer routes to well-paid jobs, while others fail to give graduates a career which allows them to live independently and without financial difficulties. Young people might feel passionate about studying a particular subject at university, but ultimately choose not to, as it may not offer them a route to a financially rewarding job.
University education is both hard and stressful. Students work themselves very hard in demanding courses, often resulting in sleep deprivation. It is also expensive – students either take out a loan or their families cover their tuition fees and living costs. Ultimately, universities provide people with knowledge and develop critical and analytical skills, an important strength needed for later life.
It is disappointing to see that many employers overlook a university degree as they place more of an emphasis on experience and demonstrated evidence of skills, such as communication, organisation, ability to multi-task, ability to work under pressure – skills which students can gain during their studies at university, including through participating in university extra-curricular activities (like I did), but it seems like being at university is no longer enough for employers. As a result, many young people lose the willingness to go to university and choose other routes for their lives.
UK universities are amongst the best in the world, with many universities scoring highly in world university rankings. Every year, they attract many international students who choose to study in the UK.
To preserve their reputations, to restore trust amongst young people and employers, and to once again be a pathway to a stable, financially rewarding career, universities must adapt to changing trends around the world. For instance, the rise in the use of technology and AI, and changes in the labour market.
Many graduates are leaving universities without the necessary work experience. Still, they are intelligent, hard-working, resilient, determined, and overall driven to contribute to UK economic growth and improvements within society.
Many employers ask for years of experience, even when there are few entry-level roles available that are connected to graduates’ degrees, and even then there is fierce competition amongst hundreds of graduates. Even volunteering or internships are competitive and hard to get involved in.
The other thing I noticed is the attention the employers pay to how the applicants present themselves on their CVs and during interviews. Many ask for references, and, in the case that work experience hasn’t been gained during their study, some graduates do not know whom they should use.
But the employers should realise that graduates do have what they need – the commitment to work hard, the commitment to learn, the commitment to grow, the commitment to develop. Many graduates have other important characteristics: politeness, honesty, punctuality, the ability to listen and to support others, confidence, seriousness, and resilience. It is disappointing that employers pay little attention to these qualities in graduates.
The businesses, institutions, and organisations must give graduates a chance. They must notice that graduates with university degrees are also looking for jobs. They must give respect to graduates’ hard work. They must realise that intelligent graduates have considerable talent and potential. They must realise that graduates have the capacity to learn, work and contribute to the functioning of their businesses, institutions and organisations. They must realise that the graduates need jobs to build their lives.
Let us work. We can do it.
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