The “learn to code” movement, which once promised a golden ticket to high-paying jobs, has backfired spectacularly for recent college graduates in computer science. According to the New York Federal Reserve, those with CS degrees now face a 6.1% unemployment rate, while computer engineering majors fare even worse, at 7.5%. This is a significant drop from previous years and stark contrast to the 2023 Census data, which showed overall unemployed recent grads had only a 5.8% rate.
Experts point to the “rewarding pedigree over potential” mentality in the tech industry, citing companies that prioritize experience over skills and flooding the market with CS graduates. HR consultant Bryan Driscoll notes that entry-level roles are disappearing, unpaid internships remain rampant, and automation is replacing human workers.
Finance expert Michael Ryan further suggests that the gold rush mentality around coding has led to a surplus of unskilled workers, causing wages to plummet. With record-high CS enrollment and 40% cuts in engineering budgets, companies are experiencing basic economic fallout.
Recent graduates face uncertain job prospects, with some considering alternative paths such as going back to school or taking on non-traditional work, like selling blood plasma, as one laid-off tech veteran did last year.
Source: https://futurism.com/computer-science-majors-high-unemployment-rate