The entry-level end of the market is where the pressure shows first. Adzuna has seen a 30% drop in UK entry-level job postings since ChatGPT's launch, with graduates facing the toughest job market since 2018, according to techUK's analysis of entry-level and graduate jobs. That squeeze is not evenly spread. In engineering, entry-level hiring has fallen to -19% while senior hiring sits at -10%, a 9-percentage-point gap, reports GOV.UK's snapshot of entry-level hiring in the UK.
The tech sector shows how fast this can move, and finance watches it closely because the two overlap in data, risk and automation roles. The UK tech sector cut graduate jobs by 46 percent in the past year, with a further 53 percent drop projected, according to figures from the Institute of Student Employers reported by The Register. For employers hiring early talent in financial services, the message is simple: the junior pipeline is thinner, and the roles that remain are changing shape.
Demand is pivoting hard towards AI. Demand for AI skills increased nearly 200 percent in a year, with London accounting for 80 percent of AI-related job postings and nearly two-thirds of all technology vacancies in the UK, according to Accenture data reported by The Register. For a graduate entering finance, that concentration matters, because many front-office, risk and operations teams sit in the capital and now expect comfort with AI tools from day one.
The way people enter these roles is shifting too. Apprenticeships have risen from 3% of AI hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025, according to the GOV.UK AI Labour Market Survey 2025. That tells you employers are building AI capability through structured, on-the-job routes rather than relying on the traditional graduate funnel alone. Agent fluency, knowing how to brief an AI agent, sense-check its work and own the result, is becoming the practical skill these adverts are really asking for.
The policy backdrop reinforces it. During London Tech Week 2025, the UK government announced a partnership to upskill 7.5 million UK workers in essential AI skills by 2030, equivalent to around 20% of the UK workforce, according to techUK. When a fifth of the workforce is being pointed at AI skills, it is no surprise those skills start appearing in entry-level finance adverts.
Start by being honest in the advert. If a role needs agent fluency, describe what that looks like in plain terms: prompting an AI tool, reviewing its output for errors, and applying judgement to numbers it produces. Vague buzzwords put off strong applicants who can actually do the work. Clear, specific language widens your pool.
Then test for the thing you need, not the thing that is easy to screen. A short exercise where someone works with an AI tool and explains their checks tells you far more than a line on a CV. With the junior pipeline tighter, prioritise potential and learning speed over a perfect match, and lean on structured routes like apprenticeships where the traditional graduate funnel falls short.
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