Male student looking stressed <\/p>\n
For years, we heard about the tech talent shortage \u2014 that there was a glut of jobs and not enough bodies to fill them.<\/p>\n
For students studying computer science, a bright future was on the horizon. Upon graduation, they could expect multiple job offers, high starting salaries and lots of perks, from free food and gym memberships to ping-pong tables in the office.<\/p>\n
Fast-forward to now, and the tables have turned. Tech companies are laying off workers in droves. In some cases, they\u2019re using AI to replace the workers that helped develop AI-based solutions.<\/p>\n
Zach Taylor told The New York Times<\/a> that, since graduating in 2023 with a computer science degree from Oregon State University, he\u2019s applied to nearly 6,000 tech jobs \u2014 and it\u2019s been one of \u201cthe most demoralizing experiences I have ever had to go through.\u201d<\/p>\n He only landed 13 interviews and no job offers. Furthermore, he also couldn\u2019t get a job at McDonald\u2019s as a part time gig because of his \u201clack of experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor is far from alone. Globally, more than 150,000 tech employees were laid off across 551 tech companies in 2024, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi<\/a>. At the time of writing, 81,567 tech employees had been laid off to date in 2025 across 186 tech companies.<\/p>\n Major tech companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Lenovo and Intel laid off sizable chunks of their workforce in 2024, which has continued into 2025. Microsoft, for example, announced in July that it\u2019s cutting another 9,000 employees<\/a> following a series of layoffs earlier this year.<\/p>\n According to the Canadian monthly layoffs update from Samfiru Tumarkin LLP<\/a>, August 2025 saw layoffs at Cisco (impacting Canadian staff as part of global cuts), Oracle (affecting staff in Kitchener) and software firm Consensys (impacting Canadian employees).<\/p>\n While the idea behind AI was that it would automate manual tasks and help workers focus on more value-added activities, some workers fear it will outright replace them \u2014 and that\u2019s already happening.<\/p>\n A publicly posted company memo by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy went into great detail<\/a> about how AI would \u201cmake our jobs even more exciting and fun than they are today.\u201d But it also said the company expects \u201cthis will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.\u201d<\/p>\n In July, Amazon cut its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing unit by at least hundreds, according to Reuters<\/a>, though it isn\u2019t clear exactly how many employees were let off (or if any were in Canada).<\/p>\n To top it off, low-code and no-code tools make it easier to complete simple coding jobs, even for non-technical users with little to no experience coding<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read more: I’m in my early 60s and I want to retire in 3 years or less \u2014 what are 5 financial boxes I need to check right now?<\/a><\/p>\n Many student coders are saying goodbye to those $165K tech jobs, according to The New York Times.<\/p>\n \u201cI just graduated with a computer science degree, and the only company that has called me for an interview is Chipotle,\u201d Manasi Mishra, a graduate of Purdue University, said in a TikTok video earlier this summer.<\/p>\n The NYT questioned more than 150 college students and recent grads from state schools and private universities about their experiences.<\/p>\n \u201cSome said they had applied to hundreds, and in several cases thousands, of tech jobs at companies, nonprofits and government agencies. But many computing graduates said their monthslong job quests often ended in intense disappointment or worse: companies ghosting them,\u201d the news outlet reported.<\/p>\n Tech jobs aren\u2019t the only ones being impacted by this employment trend.<\/p>\n In Canada, youth unemployment \u201cis the highest it has been in over a decade,\u201d according to a study from Deloitte<\/a> commissioned by the King\u2019s Trust Canada. Youth unemployment reached a near-decade high of 14.4% in December 2024, and \u201ca staggering 850,000 young people are not in jobs, training or school.\u201d<\/p>\n More than a third of graduates believe their degree was \u201ca waste of money,\u201d according to research from Indeed Hiring Lab<\/a>, with more than half (51%) of Gen Z respondents expressing remorse.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because, according to the research, not only has the \u201ccollege wage premium\u201d plateaued, post-secondary education has become more expensive. The average student loan debt for a university graduate with a bachelor\u2019s degree is more than $30,000, according to data from Statistics Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n Computer science graduates, however, have another problem: bad timing. Many universities are just now starting to train students on AI coding tools, Tracy Camp, executive director of the Computing Research Association, told The New York Times.<\/p>\n While generalists may be struggling to get a job, it\u2019s anticipated that there will be growth in AI-related roles.<\/p>\n \u201cAmong AI-related occupations, data scientists account for 20% of all AI-related job postings, making it the most in-demand AI profession,\u201d according to the OECD<\/a>. \u201cOther key roles include software developers, software engineers, database analysts, and computer engineers, who collectively make up approximately 45% of AI-related job postings.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s because these jobs require domain knowledge and human judgment \u2014 both of which aren\u2019t easily replicated by AI.<\/p>\n But it doesn\u2019t mean recent grads have to go back to school (at least not for four years) and get further in debt. One option is micro-credentials, which are short, snack-sized, skill-based programs for specific competencies.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile educational requirements are unlikely to vanish from job postings, growing support of skills-first hiring approaches is a clear sign for workers to invest in skills now, regardless of their education level,\u201d according to the Indeed Hiring Lab report. \u201cIn other words, even college-educated workers may have to think about reskilling more going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n 1. The New York Times: <\/a>Goodbye, $165,000 Tech Jobs. Student Coders Seek Work at Chipotle., by Natasha Singer (Aug 10, 2025)<\/p>\n 2. Layoffs: <\/a><\/p>\n 3. CNBC: <\/a>Microsoft laying off about 9,000 employees in latest round of cuts, by Jordan Novet (Jul 2, 2025)<\/p>\n 4. Samfiru Tumarkin LLP: <\/a>Laid Off or Facing Layoffs in Canada? Your 2025 Legal Guide, by Lior Samfiru (Aug 29, 2025)<\/p>\n 5. Amazon: <\/a>Message from CEO Andy Jassy: Some thoughts on Generative AI, by Andy Jassy (Aug 29, 2025)<\/p>\n 6. Reuters: <\/a>Exclusive: Amazon’s AWS cloud computing unit cuts at least hundreds of jobs, sources say, by Greg Bensinger (Jul 17, 2025)<\/p>\n 7. SAP: <\/a>What is low-code\/no-code application development?<\/p>\n 8. King’s Trust Canada: <\/a>Canada’s youth unemployment crisis<\/p>\n 9. Indeed: <\/a>Report: 51% of Gen Z Views Their College Degree as a Waste of Money, by Jocelyne Gafner (May 7, 2025)<\/p>\n