BT has become one of the first major companies in the UK to axe its graduate recruitment programme as part of a cost-cutting measure.

British Telecoms (BT) has become one of the first major corporations to scrap its graduate recruitment scheme, adding yet more pressure to the vulnerable UK job market.

With a new wave of university leavers recently entering the struggling UK job market, BT has added to their worries by terminating its graduate recruitment programme as part of a cost-cutting measure.

In the last year alone, BT received 4,800 applications for only 130 jobs, up from the 4,100 a year earlier.

The intake of graduate recruits in 2009 are safe, however the company stated it had no plans as yet to reopen the scheme in the foreseeable future.

This news follows the announcement made by BT in May that it was to cut around 15,000 jobs in 2009, mostly positions in the UK.

According to the BBC, a BT spokesperson said: “In light of the current economic environment and headcount pressures, BT has taken the decision to cease graduate recruitment activity and are no longer running a graduate recruitment programme.”

Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), commented on the news: “Whilst we cannot hide from the fact that dramatic vacancy cuts will make the job search very tough for graduates both this year and probably next year, very few employers have abandoned their graduate recruitment programmes altogether, and most are likely to reinstate recruitment levels at the first sign of upturn in the economy.”

Based on the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, the number of jobless in the UK currently stands at 2.4 million.