The computer science dream has become a nightmare

Well, the coding-equals-prosperity promise has officially collapsed.

Fresh computer science graduates are facing unemployment rates of 6.1% to 7.5% — more than double what biology and art history majors are experiencing, according to a recent Federal Reserve Bank of New York study. A crushing New York Times piece highlights what’s happening on the ground.

The individual stories are surreal. Manasi Mishra, 21, graduated from Purdue after being promised six-figure starting salaries, only to receive a single interview, at Chipotle. (She didn’t get the job.) Zach Taylor has applied to nearly 6,000 tech jobs since graduating from Oregon State in 2023, landing just 13 interviews and zero offers. He was even rejected by McDonald’s for “lack of experience.”

The alleged culprits? AI programming eliminating junior positions, while Amazon, Meta and Microsoft slash jobs. Students say they’re trapped in an “AI doom loop” — using AI to mass-apply while companies use AI to auto-reject them, sometimes within minutes.

Thankfully, Mishra landed a job after one cold application that worked out. It’s not in software engineering.