Key Points:
- Graduate job postings fell 24% last year (compared to 2023), and are tracking 16% lower in early 2025.
- Graduate jobs are most common in engineering, particularly electrical and civil engineering, but graduate programs can be found across a range of sectors.
- Jobseeker searches for graduate jobs remain low, possibly because graduates continue to find work faster than in the past.
Graduate recruitment is unique in that there’s often a long lag — sometimes six months or even longer — between the hiring process and the successful candidate beginning the job. Therefore, changes in employer demand for graduates today may reflect how employers expect Australia’s economy to evolve.
For university students, the final year of study is often a tricky balancing act between studying and job hunting. Some graduates secure a job early, waiting out the academic year until their new career begins, while others face a hectic scramble towards the end of the year. Competition is often fierce, with employers vying for top talent and graduates targeting the most lucrative jobs.
On Indeed, Australian employer demand for graduates continues to ease, with the number of graduate job postings in early 2025 down considerably from the same time last year. It marks the second consecutive year of decline following a red-hot market throughout 2022 and 2023.
Graduate demand continued to fall in early 2025
In 2024, there were 1.7 times more graduate job postings in Australia than in 2019 — certainly a healthy figure. Nevertheless, graduate job postings were down 24% compared to 2023, and early signs suggest graduate demand has eased further in 2025.
From January to March 2025, graduate postings tracked 16% below the same period last year. While opportunities remain well above pre-pandemic levels, the market has clearly shifted, and recent graduates now face a more challenging recruitment environment than in prior years. Geopolitical and economic uncertainty may also weigh on graduate recruitment over the remainder of this year, impacting Australian employers’ confidence and ability to plan ahead.
Graduate recruitment prominent in engineering
In 2024, graduate roles accounted for 5.4% of all electrical engineering job postings, ahead of civil engineering (5.2% of postings), therapy (4.1%) and mechanical engineering (3.7%). Other sectors with notable graduate hiring included scientific research, veterinary, project management and architecture.
However, not all graduate recruitment occurs online. In-person placements are a common pathway for some occupations, particularly in healthcare, weighing on those occupations’ graduate posting share.
Graduate job postings also feature a mix of large-scale graduate programmes — where a single job posting may reflect dozens of jobs — and more tailored, role-specific opportunities. The approach used in different sectors may influence how highly they rank compared to other sectors.
Graduate hiring patterns are returning to normal
In response to strong economic conditions and widespread skill shortages, employers adjusted their graduate recruitment approach in 2022 and 2023. Many roles during that period became evergreen, remaining open throughout the year, with employers less likely to target specific times of year such as March or April.
From 2019 to 2021, graduate postings peaked 86% higher — as a share of total job postings — than its annual average. That percentage dropped to just 30% during 2022 and 2023, as hiring was spread out across the year. In 2024, there were signs of a return to more typical hiring patterns, with graduate postings peaking 50% above its annual average, a marked departure from hiring patterns seen in the two years prior.
Jobseeker activity remains subdued
Although the graduate job market remains healthy (albeit weaker than in recent years), jobseekers’ search activity remains low. In 2024, just 0.4% of Australian jobseeker searches were for graduate roles, unchanged from 2023 but down from 0.6% in 2022 and 0.8% in 2021. In early 2025, jobseeker activity appears unchanged from last year.
There are several possible explanations for persistently low jobseeker activity. First, less friction in the graduate job market may mean graduates find jobs faster, requiring fewer job searches. A candidate who lands a graduate job in April will search less than a jobseeker who finds work in September. We, perhaps, have more of the former and fewer of the latter than was the case during and before the pandemic.
Second, in a tight labour market, fewer people may pursue entry-level roles, reducing the pool of active candidates. And lastly, in that same tight labour market, jobseekers potentially have more options, allowing them to bypass traditional graduate pathways in favour of more lucrative opportunities.
Conclusion
Australia’s post-pandemic job boom has benefited recent university graduates. For the past couple of years, it’s been a great time to enter the workforce and start your career. That said, the graduate market has clearly cooled, with postings in early 2025 tracking 20% below last year and 38% lower than their 2023 peak.
Ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty have left Australian employers understandably concerned, potentially weighing on graduate job opportunities in the months ahead. While Australia’s job market remains tight — and it’s important to remember that the graduate market is currently healthy — we shouldn’t be surprised to see a deterioration in labour market conditions for recent university graduates.
Methodology
To identify graduate job postings, we filter job posting titles for the word ‘graduate.’ This identifies Australian employer graduate programmes and opportunities that primarily go to students completing their final year of university study.
Graduate-based job searches reflect job searches that mention ‘graduate.’ This includes terms such as ‘graduate’ or ‘graduate programme.’
