Group 1 - The UK job market is facing a severe recruitment freeze for first-time job seekers, the most challenging since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the dual impact of rising labor costs and the emergence of artificial intelligence [1] - Employers are shifting from hiring full-time employees to part-time workers, with contract roles increasing by 22% since the implementation of higher minimum wage standards and tax policies in April, while full-time positions have decreased by 9% in the same period [1] - The number of entry-level positions has dropped by 4.5% to just below 210,000, representing only 20% of all job vacancies, significantly lower than the average of 27% from 2022 to 2024, marking the lowest proportion since October 2020 [1] Group 2 - The report confirms the trend that artificial intelligence is reshaping corporate hiring plans, with graduate roles involving AI-adaptable tasks, such as document screening and presentation creation, decreasing by 28% over the past year, nearly four times the decline of entry-level positions [2] - Overall job vacancies in the UK slightly decreased to approximately 865,000 in July, a month-on-month reduction of 1.2%, with the slowdown in entry-level hiring and a decrease in healthcare roles being partially offset by double-digit growth in the construction sector [2]