The accountancy profession is in the mists of a ‘white-collar recession’, with entry-level and process-driven finance jobs being consumed, says Reed CEO James Reed.
These routes are the traditional gateways for many professionals starting their careers, and Reed believes their rapid decline poses a significant threat to social mobility and future workplace development.
He explained: “The very nature of what constitutes a ‘good job’ is being redefined before our eyes. Roles that once seemed secure and promised a stable career path are now vulnerable to automation.”
It means we have to totally rethink our approach to education, skills and career progression.
Reed said nowhere is this shift more acutely felt than among our young people and recent graduates. And, he stressed the data is deeply concerning.
He said that the number for graduate jobs advertised on Reed.co.uk has plummeted from around 180,000 just a few years ago to a mere 50,000 at the end of 2025. Other job sites are reporting similar, sobering figures. This is not just a dip; it is a collapse in the entry-level market.
This ‘graduate crunch’ is creating a generation of highly educated individuals who are struggling to find a foothold in the professional world. Nearly half of all jobs lost since mid-2024 have been among those under 25, and youth unemployment has soared to its highest level in a decade, excluding the pandemic period standing at 15.3%. The UK’s top 100 employers reduced their graduate hiring by 14.6% in 2024, the steepest fall since the 2009 recession.
For those who do manage to secure a role, the rewards are often diminished. We are seeing entry-level graduate jobs offering salaries that are perilously close to the minimum wage, especially when factoring in the long hours often expected of new recruits. This situation challenges the long-held assumption that a university degree is a guaranteed ticket to a prosperous career.
Reed’s Alan Myers is worried how the next generation of accountants will ‘break in’. He said: “The industry has not yet found a clear solution. It’s possible that roles currently considered mid-level, such as assistant management accountant, will become the new entry-level positions. This would require newcomers to possess a higher baseline of skills, particularly in data analysis, from the very beginning. Apprenticeship schemes may also need a radical overhaul, shifting focus from transactional basics to technology implementation and strategic thinking.”
You can download Reed’s 2026 accountancy & finance salary guide here.
