FT News Briefing The great graduate job drought
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Feb 20, 2026 
Daniel Chait, CEO and co-founder of Greenhouse, shares hiring-platform insights and practical tips for recruiters. Anjli Raval, FT management editor, outlines worsening graduate labour-market trends backed by interviews and data. They discuss rising application volumes, AI screening and algorithmic hurdles, exploitative services, and what helps candidates get noticed.
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Graduate Job Market Is Severely Fractured
- Graduate unemployment is rising faster than the general population and the hiring process often leaves candidates feeling ghosted.
- Anjli Raval highlights widespread demoralization as applicants send many tailored applications and receive no response.
Graduate From King's College Struggles Despite Effort
- A King's College graduate in war studies described doing internships and volunteering yet still struggling to secure a first role.
- That story exemplifies many graduates' experience of extensive effort meeting minimal employer feedback.
AI Screening Creates A Vicious Application Cycle
- Widespread use of AI in screening forces candidates to optimise CVs for keyword-detection algorithms.
- This creates a bizarre arms race where both applicants and recruiters rely on technology that can worsen fit and response rates.