Jack Zemke sent hundreds of job applications after studying computer science, but most of them received no response.
With graduation from Tulane University just days away, the 23-year-old was considering moving back in with his parents when an opportunity came through a university group project involving an AI-powered search tool.
While showcasing the project at an engineering conference, Zemke was approached by an employee of a civil engineering company. The employee said the firm knew artificial intelligence was becoming increasingly important and needed someone to help it understand and use the technology.
“I’m your man,” Zemke recalled telling him.
Zemke’s experience highlights the challenges facing many recent graduates, particularly those seeking software development jobs as AI takes over more coding tasks.
During the recent coding boom, computer science graduates were often receiving job offers without even applying. The situation has now changed. An Associated Press analysis found that about 7.1% of recent computer science and computer engineering graduates are unemployed, while graduates in fields such as philosophy, art history and ethnic studies have lower unemployment rates.
As entry-level technology jobs become harder to find, students and universities are adapting. Colleges are adding AI training and creating internships designed around the needs of specific businesses.
Universities say most graduates eventually find work, but many of the employers hiring them are smaller companies rather than major technology firms. These businesses are increasingly looking for people who can help them understand and apply AI.
Zemke spent a year at the engineering company before joining an AI technology startup this summer.
“These jobs are expecting you to be able to jump in and kind of operate on the frontier,” he said. “There’s so much churn. People are getting laid off. People are leaving. It really feels like a total frenzy right now.”
Coding boom gives way to AI-driven hiring
The high unemployment rate among recent computer science graduates is partly linked to the large number of students who entered the field during the coding boom.
Hiring surged during the COVID-19 pandemic as businesses shifted more of their work online. Software development job postings on Indeed, a major job-search website, peaked in early 2022.
But companies such as Microsoft, Meta and Google are now using AI to handle more coding work. Amazon and other major employers have also cut jobs while increasing investment in AI.
A Federal Reserve analysis of Indeed data found that software development job postings have dropped significantly.
Among workers in their early 20s in occupations considered highly exposed to AI, including software development, employment is 19% below where it would have been if those jobs had grown at the same pace as less AI-exposed occupations, according to the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.
The U.S. Census Bureau has compared the decline with the experience of people who graduated from college during a major recession.
Employers increasingly want workers who can oversee AI tools and assess their output rather than simply accept what the technology produces, said Tracy Camp, executive director and CEO of the Computing Research Association.
The situation has raised concerns about the future of entry-level workers, prompting the association to urge companies to invest more in hiring and training young employees.
“If they don’t change how hiring is currently happening, they’re not going to have mid-level career people in a few years,” Camp said.
Students are also responding to the changing job market. The number of recent computer science and computer engineering graduates tripled over the past decade to about 362,000 in 2024.
Enrollment has since started to fall. Data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center showed that enrollment in computer and information science programs at four-year institutions declined 8.4% by spring this year.
International students face additional challenges
The changing job market has been particularly difficult for international students, who make up a significant portion of computer science students in the United States.
Their difficulties stem partly from changes in U.S. immigration policy and partly from the changing nature of available jobs.
Samir Khuller, chair of Northwestern University’s computer science department, said many smaller companies hiring technology workers do not have large human resources departments with experience handling H-1B work visas.
International graduates generally need an H-1B visa and employer sponsorship to remain in the United States for work. The visa program has also come under pressure from the Trump administration, which is seeking to raise the fee to more than $100,000.
Collins Kibet, a computer science graduate from Kenya, has sent hundreds of job applications but received only a few interviews, many of them with AI systems.
The Southern New Hampshire University graduate said the tone often changed during interviews with human recruiters after they learned he would need H-1B sponsorship.
“Everybody just keeps quiet,” Kibet said.
Unable to find a job, he eventually started his own software company.
Universities rethink computer science training
The difficulties students face in finding jobs have also concerned Nicholas Mattei, an associate professor of computer science at Tulane University.
Companies are increasingly telling universities that graduates need to be prepared to take on responsibilities beyond entry-level development, including roles closer to middle management, Mattei said.
“And it’s kind of crazy,” he said.
Many universities are now updating their computer science programs to prepare students for a job market where traditional entry-level positions are becoming harder to find.
At Georgia Tech, professors studied the needs of telecommunications company AT&T and trained students for a month before they began internships with the company.
The university plans to expand the approach through a program called “Bootcamp to Industry,” said Fisayo Omojokun, associate dean for undergraduate education at the College of Computing.
The college is also reaching out to a broader range of industries when recruiting companies for its job fairs.
“Earlier this year, we got a call from a forestry company of all things,” Omojokun said. “They’re like, ‘Hey, we are in forestry, and we know that AI can help in what we do in different ways.”