In recent years, the tech industry has had a massive growth in popularity all over the world, leading to incredible discoveries and innovations in fields such as computer science, computer engineering, and software development. However, despite the major progress in the industry, many recent tech graduates struggle to find employment. With the widespread emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), students, scholars, and workers worldwide have been met with fierce competition in the hiring market. To make matters worse, major tech companies have laid off thousands of workers since the rise of AI.
For recent college graduates, computer science and computer engineering majors have some of the highest unemployment rates. According to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, computer science unemployment rates are 6.1%, and computer engineering rates are at 7.5%. That is more than double the unemployment rate of recent biology and art history graduates, which are only at 3%.
A significant factor contributing to the lack of job opportunities in the tech industry is the advancement of AI. This technology is able to handle work such as writing basic code and automating tasks that entry-level workers had once completed. Many companies have chosen to adopt these AI systems rather than hire new and inexperienced employees in order to prioritize time, money, and efficiency, meaning that those entry-level positions are no longer available for workers.
With AI taking over a majority of tech jobs, there are far fewer positions open. Combined with increasing numbers of students studying in tech fields, competition for jobs in the tech industry has significantly increased. It is even more of a struggle for recent graduates who are newer to the scene, as companies tend to choose more experienced candidates. This creates a barrier for new workers and has led to many applying to hundreds of jobs to no avail.
Workers new to the tech industry are not the only ones affected by AI, however. In 2025 alone, Microsoft laid off over 15,000 of its employees after they invested billions of dollars in AI, which company executives have suggested would replace some of their laid-off workers. Other companies such as Amazon, Intel, and Meta have also laid off thousands of employees, creating even more economic uncertainty for workers in the tech industry.
As finding jobs becomes harder, the extended periods of time that recent graduates in the tech field spend unemployed often have negative effects on their mental health, personal finances, and career development. Financial pressures like student loans and the cost of living mean that not being able to find a job can bring about stress, anxiety, and feelings of failure. Many of the people who are unable to find entry-level jobs are not able to develop and improve their skills, given that the simple tasks they would finish are currently completed by AI. Experienced workers are left to do more complicated jobs that are out of AI’s skill range, yet the absence of new hires will eventually result in a notable lack of skilled professionals capable of harder tasks.
For a long time, kids have been told that computer science, coding, and the tech world would be a ticket to success. However, this doesn’t reflect the reality we currently live in—AI, high competition in the industry, and unstable job positions are ruining that dream. If the tech industry does not support, welcome, and recognize the talent of current and future generations in the field, it could risk losing its pipeline to the future of technology.
