It means the post-Covid hiring boom has run out of steam, with available jobs concentrated in lower-paying sectors like retail, hospitality and care.
However British graduates are not alone in struggling to find internships.
In the US figures from jobs platform Handshake recently showed many white-collar sectors had registered large drops in advertised internships.
Professional services were down 16pc in the year to May, tech 14pc and financial services 13pc.
These drops have occurred even as the US jobs market has held up stronger than in the UK.
Jack Kennedy, Indeed economist, said that while hiring in the UK remains robust for many lower-paid in-person roles, higher-paid sectors are experiencing a more pronounced slowdown.
Mr Kennedy said: “We have heard quite a lot about a kind of white-collar recession.
“I think certainly our sectoral job posting data would largely corroborate that.”
Hiring for software development roles remains 36pc lower than before the pandemic in the UK, underlining how tough the market is even for those looking for full-time roles.
Large accountancy firms are also seeking to reduce headcount after taking on lots of people post-Covid, with both KPMG and PwC recently completing several rounds of redundancies.