Young Brits See Tech and Finance Jobs Plunge 22% in Three Years

Young Britons are being squeezed out of high-paying industries such as tech and finance, according to new research that lays bare the jobless crisis hitting Generation Z.

The number of 18 to 24-year olds on company payrolls in information and communication has plunged 30% since the end of 2022 at a time when the wider picture for this group was little changed, analysis of official data by Boston Consulting Group showed. Payroll jobs for young people in finance have fallen by 10% over the same period. It means employment in the two sectors combined has fallen by 45,000 to around 163,000, a drop of 22%.

The data provides a more granular examination of the youth unemployment crisis showing how 18 to 24-year olds are increasingly absent from some of Britain’s best-paying and most productive industries. Barclays Plc announced on Thursday it is cutting 5,000 jobs to reduce costs as it adopts artificial intelligence.

Raoul Ruparel, senior director at BCG’s Centre for Growth, warned that young people “are being squeezed out of some of the UK’s most important sectors” with firms becoming more reluctant take on those with little experience.

“AI may be playing a part, but it’s unlikely to be the whole story,” he said. “Much of the fall happened in 2023 and 2024, before today’s more capable AI tools. A post-pandemic tech downturn and remote working, which makes juniors harder to train, are also likely factors.” The data cover up until the end of 2025.

Worries are mounting about job opportunities for graduates drying up more widely. While young workers tend to fare worse when the labor market is weak, low levels of vacancies have coincided with rising employment costs and rapid advances in AI.

Youth unemployment hit its highest level since 2014 at more than 16% over the summer, official figures show. Those who manage to land a job in finance or IT enjoy some of the highest salaries in the UK, with employees in the former earning almost £52,000 ($69,527) annually on average and the latter getting just under £50,000.

“These are among the UK’s most productive and export-intensive sectors,” Ruparel said. “If the junior roles where people learn on the job disappear, the UK risks losing the pipeline of experienced talent these industries depend on, whatever the cause.”

Since 2019, construction, transport and storage and arts and recreation were the best-performing sectors in terms of jobs for 18 to 24-year olds.