The AI Revolution is Reshaping Tech Hiring
A Stanford software engineering degree used to be a golden ticket to a lucrative career. Today, artificial intelligence has devalued it to bronze, according to recent graduates.
Elite Students Face a Harsh Reality
Students from one of America's top universities are shocked by the lack of job offers as they complete their studies. When they began their degrees, ChatGPT hadn't yet been released. Now, AI can code better than most humans, and top tech companies simply don't need as many fresh graduates.
"Stanford computer science graduates are struggling to find entry-level jobs with the most prominent tech brands," said Jan Liphardt, associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford University. "I think that's crazy."
The Productivity Paradox
While generative AI has made experienced engineers more productive, it has hobbled job prospects for early-career software engineers. Students describe a suddenly skewed job market where only a small slice of graduates—those considered "cracked engineers" with impressive resumes—are getting the few good jobs.
"There's definitely a very dreary mood on campus," said a recent computer science graduate who asked to remain anonymous. "People who are job hunting are very stressed out, and it's very hard for them to actually secure jobs."
The Broader Impact
This shake-up is being felt across California colleges including UC Berkeley, USC, and others. The job search has been even tougher for those with less prestigious degrees.
Eylul Akgul graduated last year with a computer science degree from Loyola Marymount University. After returning to the U.S. from gaining startup experience in Turkey, she was "ghosted" by hundreds of employers.
"The industry for programmers is getting very oversaturated," Akgul said.
AI's Rapid Advancement
The engineers' most significant competitor is getting stronger by the day. When ChatGPT launched in 2022, it could only code for 30 seconds at a time. Today's AI agents can code for hours, performing basic programming faster with fewer mistakes.
Data suggests that even though AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic are hiring many people, this isn't offsetting the decline in hiring elsewhere. Employment for early-career software developers aged 22-25 has declined by nearly 20% from its peak in late 2022, according to a Stanford study.
Beyond Software Engineering
It's not just software engineers feeling the pressure. The Stanford study estimated that entry-level hiring for AI-exposed jobs declined 13% relative to less-exposed jobs like nursing. Customer service and accounting jobs are also highly exposed to AI competition.
In the Los Angeles region, another study estimated that close to 200,000 jobs are exposed to AI automation. Around 40% of tasks done by call center workers, editors, and personal finance experts could be automated by AI, according to an AI Exposure Index.
Industry Leaders Speak Out
Many tech companies have been open about cutting back on hiring plans as AI allows them to do more programming with fewer people.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei revealed that 70% to 90% of code for some products at his company is written by their AI, Claude. He predicted that AI's capabilities will increase until close to 50% of all entry-level white-collar jobs might be wiped out in five years.
"We don't need the junior developers anymore," said Amr Awadallah, CEO of Vectara, a Palo Alto-based AI startup. "The AI now can code better than the average junior developer that comes out of the best schools out there."
The Human Advantage
To be sure, AI is still far from causing the extinction of software engineers. As AI handles structured, repetitive tasks, human engineers' jobs are shifting toward oversight.
Today's AIs are powerful but "jagged," meaning they can excel at certain math problems yet still fail basic logic tests and aren't consistent. One study found that AI tools made experienced developers 19% slower at work, as they spent more time reviewing code and fixing errors.
Adapting to the New Reality
Students should focus on learning how to manage and check the work of AI as well as gaining experience working with it, according to John David N. Dionisio, a computer science professor at LMU.
Stanford students say they're finding a split in the job market: capable AI engineers can find jobs, but basic, old-school computer science jobs are disappearing.
As they hit this surprise speed bump, some students are lowering their standards and joining companies they wouldn't have considered before. Some are creating their own startups. A large group of frustrated graduates are deciding to continue their studies to beef up their resumes and add more skills needed to compete with AI.
"If you look at the enrollment numbers in the past two years, they've skyrocketed for people wanting to do a fifth-year master's," the Stanford graduate said. "It's a whole other year, a whole other cycle to do recruiting. I would say, half of my friends are still on campus doing their fifth-year master's."
Success Stories and Future Outlook
After four months of searching, LMU graduate Akgul finally landed a technical lead job at a software consultancy in Los Angeles. At her new job, she uses AI coding tools but feels like she has to do the work of three developers.
Universities and students will have to rethink their curricula and majors to ensure that their four years of study prepare them for a world with AI.
"That's been a dramatic reversal from three years ago, when all of my undergraduate mentees found great jobs at the companies around us," Stanford's Liphardt said. "That has changed."
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