Goodbye, $165K Tech Jobs. Hello, Chipotle? As AI reshapes the tech industry, new grads are left searching for jobs

 Just a few years ago, learning to code seemed like a guaranteed path to a six-figure salary. Tech giants, politicians, and even school curriculums pushed students to major in computer science, promising a future of high-paying jobs and world-changing innovation.

But in 2025, that dream is unraveling.

Take Manasi Mishra, a recent computer science graduate from Purdue. After a year of job searching and no offers from tech firms, the only interview she landed was with Chipotle. Her experience isn’t unique — it reflects a growing crisis for newly minted CS grads across the U.S.

“The only company that called me for an interview is Chipotle,” she said in a TikTok video that's since gone viral.

A Brutal Market for New Developers

The numbers tell the story. Computer science was once the golden ticket — in 2014, about 80,000 students majored in it. In 2024, that number more than doubled to over 170,000. But now, job opportunities are shrinking just as fast.

The rise of AI coding tools — like GitHub Copilot and CodeRabbit — has made it easier for companies to automate the very entry-level tasks that junior developers used to do. At the same time, mass layoffs at Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, Meta, and others have flooded the job market with experienced engineers.

The result? Recent CS grads are stuck in limbo.

Among 22- to 27-year-olds, CS and computer engineering grads have some of the highest unemployment rates:

• 6.1% for CS

• 7.5% for computer engineering
  (That’s more than double the rate for art history and biology grads.)

"Soul-Crushing" Job Hunts

Zach Taylor, who graduated in 2023 from Oregon State with a CS degree, has applied to over 5,700 jobs. His efforts have yielded just 13 interviews — and zero full-time offers. At one point, even McDonald’s rejected him due to “lack of experience.”

He’s not alone.

Many grads say they feel ghosted by companies, despite spending months on applications, online coding tests, and interviews. Some even describe the experience as “soul-crushing” or “gaslighting”, especially after being told for years that CS was a guaranteed career win.

AI: Both the Problem — and the Future?

Ironically, the same technology that made coding more accessible is now making jobs harder to land.

• Companies are using AI to screen resumes, often rejecting candidates in seconds.

• Job seekers are using AI tools to mass-apply — making competition even more intense.

• AI coding tools are replacing junior engineers, especially in roles focused on repetitive tasks.

“The unfortunate thing is, entry-level positions are the easiest to automate,” said economist Matthew Martin from Oxford Economics.

There’s a growing sense among grads that they’re stuck in a doom loop: AI tools are taking their jobs and blocking them from even getting interviews.

A New Direction for Some

Some students are pivoting.

• Mishra, for example, realized she preferred tech marketing and sales over engineering — and just landed a job in tech sales.

• Audrey Roller, a data science grad from Clark University, is highlighting her human traits — like creativity — in hopes of standing out.

• Others are focusing on AI literacy, hoping that new skills will align them with emerging job demands.

Still, it’s clear the tech job landscape has changed — fast.

So, What Now?

The boom in computer science education created a generation of hopeful developers. But as AI disrupts everything from hiring pipelines to the code itself, many of those grads are discovering that the job market no longer has room for them — at least not in the roles they were trained for.

That doesn’t mean the end of opportunity — but it does mean the rules have changed. Quickly.