A Stanford software engineering degree used to be a golden ticket. Artificial intelligence has devalued it to bronze, recent graduates say. <\/p>\n
The elite students are shocked by the lack of job offers as they finish studies at what is often ranked as the top university in America.<\/p>\n
When they were freshmen, ChatGPT hadn\u2019t yet been released upon the world. Today, AI can code better than most humans. <\/p>\n
Top tech companies just don\u2019t need as many fresh graduates. <\/p>\n
\u201cStanford computer science graduates are struggling to find entry-level jobs\u201d with the most prominent tech brands, said Jan Liphardt, associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford University. \u201cI think that\u2019s crazy.\u201d <\/p>\n
While the rapidly advancing coding capabilities of generative AI have made experienced engineers more productive, they have also hobbled the job prospects of early-career software engineers.<\/p>\n
Stanford students describe a suddenly skewed job market, where just a small slice of graduates \u2014 those considered \u201ccracked engineers\u201d who already have thick resumes building products and doing research \u2014 are getting the few good jobs, leaving everyone else to fight for scraps.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s definitely a very dreary mood on campus,\u201d said a recent computer science graduate who asked not to be named so they could speak freely. \u201cPeople [who are] job hunting are very stressed out, and it\u2019s very hard for them to actually secure jobs.\u201d <\/p>\n
The shake-up is being felt across California colleges, including UC Berkeley, USC and others. The job search has been even tougher for those with less prestigious degrees. <\/p>\n
Eylul Akgul graduated last year with a degree in computer science from Loyola Marymount University. She wasn\u2019t getting offers, so she went home to Turkey and got some experience at a startup. In May, she returned to the U.S., and still, she was \u201cghosted\u201d by hundreds of employers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe industry for programmers is getting very oversaturated,\u201d Akgul said.<\/p>\n
The engineers\u2019 most significant competitor is getting stronger by the day. When ChatGPT launched in 2022, it could only code for 30 seconds at a time. Today\u2019s AI agents can code for hours,<\/a> and do basic programming faster with fewer mistakes.<\/p>\n Data suggests that even though AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic are hiring many people, it is not offsetting the decline in hiring elsewhere. Employment for specific groups, such as early-career software developers between the ages of 22 and 25 has declined by nearly 20% from its peak in late 2022, according to a Stanford study<\/a>. <\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t just software engineers, but also customer service and accounting jobs that were highly exposed to competition from AI. The Stanford study estimated<\/a> that entry-level hiring for AI-exposed jobs declined 13% relative to less-exposed jobs such as nursing.<\/p>\n In the Los Angeles region, another study estimated that close to 200,000 jobs are exposed. Around 40% of tasks done by call center workers, editors and personal finance experts could be automated and done by AI, according to an AI Exposure Index<\/a> curated by resume builder MyPerfectResume.<\/p>\n Many tech startups and titans have not been shy about broadcasting that they are cutting back on hiring plans as AI allows them to do more programming with fewer people.<\/p>\n Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei said that 70% to 90% of the code for some products at his company is written by his company\u2019s AI, called Claude. In May, he predicted that AI\u2019s capabilities will increase until close to 50%<\/a> of all entry-level white-collar jobs might be wiped out in five years.<\/p>\n A common sentiment from hiring managers is that where they previously needed ten engineers, they now only need \u201ctwo skilled engineers and one of these LLM-based agents,\u201d which can be just as productive, said Nenad Medvidovi\u0107, a computer science professor at the University of Southern California.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t need the junior developers anymore,\u201d said Amr Awadallah, CEO of Vectara, a Palo Alto-based AI startup. \u201cThe AI now can code better than the average junior developer that comes out of the best schools out there.\u201d<\/p>\n To be sure, AI is still a long way from causing the extinction of software engineers. As AI handles structured, repetitive tasks, human engineers\u2019 jobs are shifting<\/a> toward oversight. <\/p>\n Today\u2019s AIs are powerful but \u201cjagged<\/a>,\u201d meaning they can excel at certain math problems yet still fail basic logic tests and aren\u2019t consistent. One <\/a>study <\/a>found that AI tools made experienced developers 19% slower at work, as they spent more time reviewing code and fixing errors. <\/p>\n Students should focus on learning how to manage and check the work of AI as well as getting experience working with it, said John David N. Dionisio, a computer science professor at LMU.<\/p>\n Stanford students say they are arriving at the job market and finding a split in the road; capable AI engineers can find jobs, but basic, old-school computer science jobs are disappearing. <\/p>\n As they hit this surprise speed bump, some students are lowering their standards and joining companies they wouldn\u2019t have considered before. Some are creating their own startups. A large group of frustrated grads are deciding to continue their studies to beef up their resumes and add more skills needed to compete with AI.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at the enrollment numbers in the past two years, they\u2019ve skyrocketed for people wanting to do a fifth-year master\u2019s,\u201d the Stanford graduate said. \u201cIt\u2019s a whole other year, a whole other cycle to do recruiting. I would say, half of my friends are still on campus doing their fifth-year master\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n After four months of searching, LMU graduate Akgul finally landed a technical lead job at a software consultancy in Los Angeles. At her new job, she uses AI coding tools, but she feels like she has to do the work of three developers.<\/p>\n Universities and students will have to rethink their curricula and majors to ensure that their four years of study prepare them for a world with AI. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s been a dramatic reversal from three years ago, when all of my undergraduate mentees found great jobs at the companies around us,\u201d Stanford\u2019s Liphardt said. \u201cThat has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Stanford software engineering degree used to be a golden ticket. 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