It’s July, and my son, Kamran, has been home for the holidays for two months, since completing his second-year university finals in May.
He is desperate to find a summer job, to cover his day-to-day expenses, and just to have some money to go out with his friends and to put towards his mounting student debt, but despite applying for nearly 70 jobs in the last few months, he has not, until very recently, received a single interview, let alone a job offer.
Kamran is a medical student who left school with straight nines at GCSE and three As at A-level. He has passed incredibly rigorous medical school entrance exams and interviews; he has volunteered at hospitals and worked at GP surgeries in administrative roles, and yet, a holiday job in a shop or restaurant is proving exceptionally elusive.
His experience this summer has pretty much mirrored that of last summer, as well as that of many of his peers, and we are starting to get the distinct impression that university students are bottom of the heap when it comes to the summer jobs market. Just one example of this came at a group interview he was asked to attend last summer for a well-known upmarket supermarket chain, where the first question asked by the interviewer was whether applicants would need to leave in September.
The process, the ghosting and the mounting pile of rejections in his inbox are inevitably taking a toll on his confidence. Gone are the days when a young person could walk into a shop with a CV in hand and ask about a job. Most companies are asking applicants to complete time-consuming online assessments and personality quizzes before they can even proceed to the next stage.
Kamran is far from alone in his struggles. Indeed, Hiring Lab recently reported that UK summer vacancies are down 31 per cent compared with last year, and 71 per cent down on their 2023 peak, making it the weakest summer hiring market for several years.
Isobel is a second-year medical university student, whose job search experience is almost identical to that of Kamran. “Student finance only runs during term time, and when it comes to the holidays, I actually don’t have a lot of money to just do other things. It’s surprising how quickly things add up, especially over summer. I don’t even go out much, but just travel and food cost a lot,” she says.
She has applied for over 40 jobs in bars, restaurants and retail since June. “I’ve just had three interviews in that time,” she explains. “It’s so disheartening to be honest, when you’re applying, and it’s not going anywhere. It is really easy to fall into the mindset of, ‘They’ll probably reject me anyway’. I have had to take a break from applying for a bit, because I was getting so down about it.”
Like Kamran, Isobel has experienced a group interview at a fast-food chain where the first question asked was who was likely to leave in September. “At another job interview, which I thought was going well, I mentioned that I was a student, and I could see from the interviewer’s expression that she wasn’t going to hire me after that.”
Isobel had a job in retail during sixth-form and now regrets leaving it. “I stopped during A-levels, because it was too much of a juggle while I was studying. I really regret that now, because if I had stayed on, I would have been able to transfer to another branch closer to university,” she says.
‘For many young people, summer and Saturday jobs are not just about earning extra cash; they’re their first experience of the world of work. If those opportunities disappear, employers risk inheriting a generation less prepared for working life’ (Photo: Teri Pengilley)As a medical student, she has a packed five-days-a-week timetable, which makes finding a job during term-time even harder. “I knew holiday jobs would start being advertised in April and May, which is exactly when I was revising for my exams. It all gets very stressful, because you need to set aside the time to apply for these jobs, and be focused on that,” she says.
Yasmin, a second-year journalism student, has been looking for a summer job since the beginning of July and feels similarly despondent. Alongside her studies, Yasmin is an athlete and trains most mornings, which makes finding a full-time job even harder, she says. “You go through the whole process of applying and no one even comes back to you. My parents are helping me pay my rent, but I want to be a bit independent and at least contribute. I’ve tried everything to get a job, even reaching out to specific people by email, without any luck.”
Sixth-form student Izzy is also struggling to secure a holiday job. “It’s so annoying, it just feels like no one wants to take me on at all.”
Business groups, including the British Retail Consortium (BRC), have repeatedly warned that increased employment costs, alongside proposals to reduce the use of zero-hours contracts, could lead to less flexible and seasonal jobs being available. Retailers rely on these roles to cope with changes in demand, and they are a lifeline for young people looking for their first job.
Employment costs rose significantly in April 2025, with employer national insurance contributions (NICs) increasing to 15 per cent, the minimum wage for 18- to 20-year-olds increasing to £10 an hour and higher national living wage for workers aged 21, which now stands at £12.21 an hour.
“It’s vital that we don’t regulate flexible jobs out of existence,” warns BRC’s chief executive, Helen Dickson. “Flexible and part-time work is how millions of people make employment work for them – balancing shifts alongside study, childcare or caring responsibilities and retail plays a vital role in providing those opportunities.” A YouGov poll commissioned by the BRC in June found that 67 per cent of part-time workers took their role because they needed flexibility around study or caring commitments.
The Milburn Review, published earlier this year, highlighted the scale of the challenge in dealing with youth unemployment, with more than one million young people aged 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training.
The government recently introduced a youth jobs grant for employers who hire an eligible young person. The scheme is aimed at 18- to 24-year-olds who have been claiming universal credit and have been looking for a job for at least six months. However, most full-time students cannot claim universal credit, and so will not benefit from this scheme.
Kamran was interviewed for a job recently and is waiting to hear back, but, like many of his peers, is starting to lose hope that he will secure anything before going back in September.
Niki Turner-Harding, senior vice president & country head at Adecco UK & Ireland, advises students to include examples of volunteering, university projects and societies to show they can work with others and solve problems. “Alongside jobs boards, speak to local businesses, use your university careers service, register with recruitment agencies and let people know you’re looking for work,” she says. “Summer jobs are often filled through word of mouth as much as online applications. Finding a summer job can be challenging, but persistence really does pay off.”
For many young people, summer and Saturday jobs are not just about earning extra cash; they’re their first experience of the world of work. If those opportunities disappear, employers risk inheriting a generation less prepared for working life, with less confidence, weaker customer skills and less practical experience than previous cohorts. Then we’ll be sorry.
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