6,000 Job Applications, Zero Offers: CS Grads Face Reality Check

A computer science grad with a Purdue degree sent nearly 6000 job applications and just got rejected by McDonald's for "lack of experience." The only interview call? Chipotle. Welcome to tech's new reality.

The $165,000 starting salary Silicon Valley promised to computer science graduates has evaporated. For years, tech executives preached the gospel: learn to code, secure your future. Brad Smith from Microsoft promised six-figure salaries, $15,000 signing bonuses, $50,000 stock grants. That sermon drove CS enrollments to 170,000, double 2014 levels.

The unemployment data exposes tech's betrayal. Computer science majors now face 7.5% unemploymentm crushing art history's 3%. One Oregon State graduate applied to 5,762 jobs, landed 13 interviews, zero offers. The "golden ticket" became worthless paper.

AI coding assistants are devouring entry-level positions. CodeRabbit billboards in San Francisco promise to debug better than humans. Companies deploy AI to scan résumés. Rejections arrive three minutes after submission. Junior engineers face an existential paradox: the skills they mastered are precisely what AI replaces first.

Microsoft pivoted from funding CS education to investing $4 billion in AI training. President Trump's national AI action plan channels students away from traditional coding. The industry that created these dreams is systematically dismantling them, leaving graduates to discover their expensive degrees qualify them for burrito assembly.

Here's the ticking time bomb tech CEOs refuse to see: Today's senior engineers retire in 5-10 years. Mid-level engineers expect promotions. But when you've automated away every junior position, who fills the pipeline?

Companies celebrating their AI efficiency gains are engineering their own talent apocalypse. The firms refusing to hire juniors today will be desperately headhunting in 2030, offering $500K to anyone who still knows how to code.

When you destroy your own talent pipeline to save on entry-level salaries, who leads your company when the music stops?

Read the full article on NY Times.

----

💡 We're entering a world where intelligence is synthetic, reality is augmented, and the rules are being rewritten in front of our eyes.

Staying up-to-date in a fast-changing world is vital. That is why I have launched Futurwise; a personalized AI platform that transforms information chaos into strategic clarity. With one click, users can bookmark and summarize any article, report, or video in seconds, tailored to their tone, interests, and language. Visit Futurwise.com to get started for free!