As coding boom fades, computer science grads focus on AI skills in choppy job market

Computer science graduate Jack Zemke had sent out hundreds of job applications with little success, most disappearing without a response.

Days before graduating from Tulane University, the 23-year-old was considering moving back in with his parents when an opportunity emerged from an AI-related group project he had worked on.

While presenting the project at an engineering conference, Zemke was approached by an employee of a civil engineering firm looking for someone to help the company understand and adopt AI.

“I'm your man,” Zemke replied.

He spent a year at the engineering firm before joining an AI technology startup this summer.

Zemke's experience reflects a tougher job market for recent graduates, particularly in software development, where artificial intelligence is taking over more tasks. An Associated Press analysis found that the unemployment rate among recent computer science and computer engineering graduates is around 7.1%.

The shift marks a reversal from the coding boom during the pandemic, when rapid digitalisation drove strong demand for software developers and students in computer science often received job offers without applying.

Software development job postings on Indeed peaked in early 2022 but have since fallen sharply. Technology companies including Microsoft, Meta and Google are using AI for more coding, while major employers such as Amazon have cut jobs as investment in AI increases.

For workers in their early 20s in occupations considered highly exposed to AI, including software development, employment is 19% below the level it would have reached had it kept pace with less AI-exposed fields, according to Stanford Digital Economy Lab research. The US Census Bureau has compared the decline with the experience of graduating during a major recession.

Employers are increasingly seeking workers who can supervise AI tools and assess their output rather than simply write code, said Tracy Camp, executive director and CEO of the Computing Research Association.

The association has urged technology companies to invest more in entry-level workers, warning that a continued decline in junior hiring could leave companies without enough mid-career professionals in the coming years.

Students are responding to the shift. After the number of recent computer science and computer engineering graduates tripled over a decade to about 362,000 in 2024, enrolment began declining. Data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center showed computer and information science enrolment at four-year institutions fell 8.4% by spring this year.

International students face additional hurdles

The changing job market has been particularly difficult for international students, many of whom entered computer science programmes in large numbers.

Samir Khuller, chair of Northwestern University's computer science department, said smaller companies now doing much of the hiring often lack large human resources departments experienced in handling H-1B work visas.

International students generally need H-1B sponsorship to remain in the US, but the programme has come under pressure from the Trump administration, which has proposed raising the visa fee to more than $100,000.

Collins Kibet, a computer science graduate from Kenya, has sent hundreds of applications and secured only a handful of interviews, most with AI systems. During the few interviews he has had with people, he said the tone often changes when employers learn they would need to sponsor his H-1B visa.

“Everybody just keeps quiet,” said Kibet, who eventually started his own software company after failing to find a job.

Universities rethink computer science training

The changing demands have also prompted universities to rethink how they prepare computer science students.

Nicholas Mattei, an associate computer science professor at Tulane University, said companies are increasingly asking universities to produce graduates capable of taking on responsibilities that once belonged to more experienced employees.

Georgia Tech, for example, researched the skills sought by AT&T and trained students for a month before they began internships with the company. The university plans to expand the approach through a programme called “Bootcamp to Industry”, said Fisayo Omojokun, associate dean for undergraduate education at its College of Computing.

The school is also expanding its outreach beyond traditional technology employers. Omojokun said its College of Computing recently received a call from a forestry company seeking help in finding ways to use AI in its operations.