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

Aug 11, 2025

👋 Hi, I am Mark. I am a strategic futurist and innovation keynote speaker. I advise governments and enterprises on emerging technologies such as AI or the metaverse. My subscribers receive a free daily newsletter on cutting-edge technology.

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.

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Frequently asked questions

Why are computer science graduates struggling to find jobs?

Tech companies once promised huge salaries and bonuses to lure students into coding, driving enrollment far higher, but AI coding assistants now handle many entry-level tasks. Companies also use AI to scan résumés, sometimes rejecting applicants within minutes. This combination has left graduates facing far more competition for far fewer junior positions than expected.

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How does computer science unemployment compare to other majors?

Computer science majors now face 7.5% unemployment, which is notably higher than art history graduates at 3%. This reversal is striking because computer science was long marketed as a guaranteed path to stable, high-paying work, while art history was often seen as a riskier degree choice.

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What role is AI playing in the tech hiring crisis?

AI coding assistants, like those advertised by CodeRabbit in San Francisco, are marketed as being able to debug code better than humans, directly threatening entry-level programming roles. Companies also use AI to screen résumés automatically, generating rejections within minutes of submission, which compounds the difficulty junior engineers face in landing interviews or offers.

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Why could refusing to hire junior engineers backfire on tech companies?

Senior engineers are expected to retire within five to ten years, and mid-level engineers anticipate moving into more senior roles. If companies stop hiring and training junior engineers now to cut costs, they risk having no one to fill the pipeline later, potentially forcing them to pay very high salaries to attract experienced talent by 2030.

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