The promise of prosperity through coding has officially fizzled out.
Recent computer science graduates face unemployment rates of 6.1% to 7.5%, more than double the rates for biology and art history majors, as shown in a Federal Reserve Bank of New York study. A New York Times article spotlights the situation.
The personal accounts are astonishing. Manasi Mishra, 21, graduated from Purdue expecting six-figure starting salaries but only received one interview at Chipotle, which didn’t result in a job. Zach Taylor has submitted nearly 6,000 tech job applications since graduating from Oregon State in 2023, securing just 13 interviews with no job offers, and was even rejected by McDonald’s for “lack of experience.”
The suspected causes include AI programming removing junior roles, with Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft cutting jobs. Students say they are in an “AI doom loop,” where they use AI to mass-apply and companies use AI to auto-reject applications, sometimes almost immediately.
Fortunately, Mishra found a job after one successful cold application, though it is not in software engineering.