AI Age: CS Grads Struggle for Tech Jobs

For years, the promise of a lucrative career in technology served as a powerful magnet, drawing countless students to computer science programs. Manasi Mishra, a recent graduate of Purdue University, embodies this narrative. Growing up near Silicon Valley, she vividly recalls the pervasive rhetoric from tech executives and social media influencers: learn to code, earn a computer science degree, and a six-figure starting salary awaits. This golden promise ignited her passion early, leading her to code her first website in elementary school, pursue advanced computing in high school, and ultimately major in computer science in college.

Yet, Ms. Mishra’s post-graduation reality sharply contradicts these long-held expectations. Despite a year-long quest for tech jobs and internships, the 21-year-old graduated in May without a single offer. The starkness of her situation was highlighted in a TikTok video she posted this summer, which quickly amassed over 147,000 views. In it, she revealed, “I just graduated with a computer science degree, and the only company that has called me for an interview is Chipotle.”

Since the early 2010s, a chorus of voices—from billionaires and tech industry leaders to U.S. presidents—has consistently urged young people to embrace coding. The argument was simple: acquiring these tech skills would not only bolster individual job prospects but also strengthen the national economy. Tech companies, in turn, sweetened the deal with promises of high salaries, generous benefits, and enviable workplace perks. This sustained encouragement fueled a boom in computer science enrollments, with students like Ms. Mishra dedicating years to mastering the very skills deemed essential for future success. Her current predicament, however, serves as a poignant illustration of a shifting landscape, where the once-assured path from a computer science degree to a high-paying tech job appears increasingly uncertain.