“It’s been a terrible year to graduate and find a job” said a recent headline in the Financial Times.

Other newspapers have also chipped in with equally gloomy headlines such as “Where have all the graduate jobs gone”, “It’s a jobs desert” and ‘It’s so demoralising’: UK graduates exasperated by high unemployment”.

So why are so many seemingly well qualified young people finding it hard to get a job? To what extent is AI to blame for graduates’ labour market woes? And are the challenges facing graduates likely to get better or worse in the coming years? 

My guests are Sarah O'Connor, the employment columnist and associate editor at the Financial Times, and Stephen Isherwood, the joint Chief Executive of the Institute of Student Employers, a membership body that supports organisations who recruit graduates.

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