Graduates

We know many of you want to stay in Edinburgh, but maybe don't know much about the local labour market and the kinds of opportunities here: Which roles are recruiting? What sectors are thriving? And how do you secure that first role when the job market feels very competitive? 

What’s happening overall in the UK graduate market? -  It’s “a cooling, not a collapse” 

According to this analysis from respected commentator Charlie Ball, the graduate labour market is not in crisis — it's best described as a little stuck, adjusting to a slower, more constrained economic environment. "After the post-pandemic surge - when graduate recruitment outpaced the economy due to labour shortages - we’re now back to something more familiar: modest growth, limited dynamism, and fewer easy wins for new entrants" 

What this usually means in practice is more competition for advertised roles which may be in industries/professions you haven't previously thought of, perhaps working for less well-known organisations.  

You want to stay in Edinburgh? You absolutely can work locally BUT you’ll get better outcomes faster by approaching the job search systematically rather than hoping one application turns into a job (or just applying for anything and everything...) and by focussing on sectors/occupations where there are likely to be a higher number of opportunities.  

There isn’t ONE graduate labour market (and that’s good news) 

When people talk about “the graduate job market”, they often describe it like one single thing. In reality, it’s overlapping markets e.g.  

So… what’s the Edinburgh labour market like for graduates now? Why is it a strong place to start your search? 

Edinburgh doesn’t have one dominant industry. It has a cluster of connected sectors that often create new roles: and in the type of work that graduates typically do - not just graduate schemes but with opportunities beyond the obvious. 

Nearly 70% of jobs in Edinburgh are in professional roles. This is a strong knowledge economy driven by finance, technology, professional services, tourism, and the public sector. Some of the biggest employers in the city include  NHS Lothian, Scottish Government, City of Edinburgh Council and University of Edinburgh.  One in six Edinburgh workers are tech workers, and one in eight works in finance and business services.  

In a recent report Edinburgh was cited as emerging as among the UK's leading cities for employment growth in innovative firms and one of Britains' most important cities for technology, research-led business and high value jobs.  

Although most graduates work for larger businesses in Edinburgh, SMES do make up a larger proportion of graduate employment than almost all other Scottish regions. (Highlands and Islands the exception accounting for 25% of new hires) 

The latest Edinburgh Economic Needs Survey (Feb 2025) highlights the key sectors likely to drive growth as tourism, energy and renewables, creative industries, financial services, life sciences and data sector.  

Edinburgh 2030: Unleashing our economic ambition, identifies five priority sectors expected to have the greatest future growth and impact on the city economy: 

1) Financial Services & Fintech — data, risk and change  
Edinburgh has a long-established financial services industry, rated within the top 50 globally, plus a growing fintech and innovation ecosystem. Employers often look for candidates with strong problem-solving and digital confidence, not just traditional finance knowledge. 

Where graduates commonly fit: 

Source: Edinburgh Futures Institute – Financial Services & Fintech 

2) Tech & Digital 
Recruitment levels have declined following the post covid boom, but IT, AI and digital are still the occupations most targeted by graduate employers (ISE Student Recruitment Survey Oct 2025) and Edinburgh is widely recognised as one of the UK’s faster-growing tech hubs, In the last 10 years, roles in data in Edinburgh have seen some of the fastest growth (by 33%) with around 20,000 employed in data. This is led by our ambition to be Data Capital of Europe driven by the City Region Deal and accelerating growth in 10 key sectors 

Where graduates commonly fit: 

3) The Green Economy/Renewables 
Recent research finds that UK’s growing green economy is worth more than £100bn a year-. With Edinburgh aiming to be a “climate ready net zero capital by 2030” this may increase demand not only for technical roles directly impacting net zero but jobs in the wider green economy covering areas like waste, water and conservation/nature. While the energy and renewables sector does not currently have a strong presence in Edinburgh, several infrastructure investments and projects are expected to deliver significant growth in the renewables sector and its sub-sectors. Sustainability impacts every workplace so it’s likely you could find a role within many different sectors (EAUC Scotland have a helpful “A Green Careers Guide”) 

Where graduates commonly fit: 

4) Health & Life Sciences  

Life sciences is one of Scotland’s fastest-growing sectors with a growing cluster of life sciences and biotech organisations within Edinburgh. And like other part of the UK, the ageing population trend is likely to increase demand for health & care services. 

SDS's most recent Sector Skills Assessment for Life Sciences report suggests roles for graduates in Edinburgh/central belt likely to be with employers involved in:  

5) Creative Industries  
Published in Oct 2025, Skills Development Scotland predict that the number of people working in the Creative Industries is expected to grow by 2% annually, slightly outperforming Scotland’s average of 1.7%. In 2023, around 24,000 people were employed in creative jobs in Edinburgh, representing around 6.5% of the total employment. 

Edinburgh’s creative economy spans areas like film/TV, publishing, music, advertising, marketing/PR, design, gaming, festivals/heritage and more. Digital skills, storytelling, audience insight, and project delivery increasingly matter.  

Getting started in creative and cultural sectors can seem challenging as this is an area where e.g. formal work experience via internships is very sparse and competitive. Sometimes it is just about being brave and engaging with people working in the sector as much as you can- making connections and networking can make a huge difference.   

And being flexible on what those early roles look like; Edinburgh's amazing programme of arts and cultural festivals can be a great place to build experience and your network. And with major refurbs and creation of new venues in the pipeline, this could create more opportunities beyond performance roles e.g. education teams, visitor experience, programme coordinators, project delivery.  An example of this is the Granton Lighthouse project intended to be a major hub for creatives.  

Communications and content creation roles are fairly abundant. Assistant roles, marketing and admin related roles can be a good starting point for new graduates getting into publishing and media industries. 

Not surprisingly, industries like publishing, journalism and media are continually evolving due to GenAI. This has led to changes within copyediting, research, transcription, subtitling, versioning, metadata & marketing. Employers value candidates who can use AI responsibly (ethics, copyright, verification, accessibility) alongside core craft skills. 

Most recent growth in Edinburgh has been in creative tech, jobs merging creative arts with data/AI and software development. If interested we’d encourage you to explore Creative Informatics. 

Where graduates commonly fit: 

Getting help 

If you want to stay in Edinburgh after graduation in 2026, remember: