Employers say UK graduates work-ready despite job gap

Employers across the UK largely consider university leavers ready for work, according to analysis of the UK Government's Employer Skills Survey by recruitment platform Oleeo.

The findings sit alongside continuing youth unemployment and inactivity. An estimated 366,000 people aged 16 to 24 were unemployed and not in education, employment or training, according to the latest Office for National Statistics figures cited in the analysis.

Oleeo said the survey data challenge a common narrative that Generation Z lacks the right workplace attitude or motivation. It argued that early-career recruitment processes and access to opportunity played a bigger role in keeping young people out of work.

Employer views

In the survey results highlighted by Oleeo, 79% of employers said graduates were prepared for work. Some 15% said graduates were poorly prepared.

Employer confidence appeared consistent across the UK. The "prepared" figure stood at 79% in England, 80% in Wales, 83% in Northern Ireland and 85% in Scotland, according to the analysis.

Oleeo also pointed to employer responses on specific employability traits. When asked about skills lacking among university leavers, 5% of employers cited attitude or motivation as lacking. Communication skills drew 9%. Teamwork stood at 7%. Time management stood at 8%. Problem-solving stood at 10%. Basic work readiness stood at 6%.

The analysis said most employers reported no concerns across those areas. It framed that as evidence against the idea that negative attitudes or poor readiness among younger workers represent a widespread issue.

Hiring friction

Oleeo linked the gap between reported readiness and the size of the NEET population to how organisations run early-career hiring. It pointed to high application volumes and variable screening practices.

The company said unclear job information and slow processes also played a role. It argued that candidates can fail to progress even when they meet the requirements for a role, particularly in large-scale recruitment.

Oleeo said progress on reducing youth unemployment and inactivity risked stalling if hiring systems failed to keep pace with applicant volumes. It described this as a structural issue in early careers recruitment rather than a shortfall in graduate capability.

It also said employers and policymakers should focus on fair and modern recruitment processes. Oleeo positioned that as a way to address the mismatch between employer confidence in graduates and outcomes in the labour market.

Company comments

Charles Hipps, Founder & CEO of Oleeo, linked the survey patterns to the wider debate about young workers.

"If claims that Gen Z lacks the right attitudes for work were accurate, they would be expected to appear in the data (potentially varying by region or sector). However, the evidence shows no such pattern. Employer confidence in graduate readiness remains consistently high across all UK nations, from England through to Scotland," said Charles Hipps, Founder & CEO, Oleeo.

He also attributed the continued level of youth unemployment to barriers in recruitment.

"This reinforces a broader national picture: the primary challenge facing young people is not capability, but access to opportunity. When nearly four in five employers report that graduates are work-ready across every part of the UK, the persistence of high levels of youth unemployment points to barriers within hiring processes rather than deficiencies among candidates," said Hipps.

Oleeo said the issues become more pronounced when employers receive hundreds or thousands of applications for a single vacancy. It said organisations need consistent approaches that assess candidates quickly and fairly.

The company also returned to the theme of public perception of younger workers. It said the survey results did not align with claims that graduates arrive without the baseline behaviours employers expect.

"There's a persistent narrative that young people aren't ready for work - but the data doesn't support that. Employers overwhelmingly tell us graduates arrive with the right attitudes, behaviours and baseline skills," said Hipps.

He said candidate volumes and process design shaped who progresses in early-career hiring.

"The issue is access. When hundreds or thousands apply for a role, even capable candidates can disappear in the volume. If recruitment systems can't assess potential quickly and fairly, opportunity never reaches the people it's designed for," said Hipps.

Oleeo said its analysis drew on the Employer Skills Survey 2024, which includes responses from more than 72,000 employer establishments across the UK, and it said the labour market context drew on additional public reporting.