According to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 20th (local time), computer science majors are more popular than ever in American universities, however, these graduates are having a harder time finding jobs in the tech industry, unlike in the past.
WSJ analyzed that the big tech companies that aggressively expanded their staffs a few years ago are no longer feeling the need to hire new employees or reduce jobs, while the number of majors is significantly increasing.
According to the report, job postings for software development have decreased by 30% compared to pre-COVID-19 levels on the job search website Indeed. Similarly, the student hiring platform Handshake has also seen a 30% decrease in full-time job postings from tech companies compared to the same period last year. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there has been no change in the job growth rate of the software publisher employer group, which includes software developers, over the past 18 months.
However, the number of majors in these fields is significantly increasing. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the number of American students majoring in computer and information science has surpassed 600,000 as of 2023. This represents a 40% increase in just five years. The number of bachelor’s degree recipients in this major exceeded 100,000 in 2021, a 140% increase from a decade ago.
According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, computer and information science is the fourth most popular major at four-year colleges, with the number of majors skyrocketing from approximately 444,000 to 628,000 between 2018 and 2023.
This has made the job market even more competitive for this year’s graduates. A student who graduated from an American Catholic university this year, told WSJ, “When I tell people I’m majoring in computer science, they say that I will make a lot of money and that I can do whatever I want. But when I try to find a job, it’s impossible.”
Computer science majors from top universities can still find jobs, but not all of them are going to Facebook or Google. Tim Herbert, Chief Research Officer at CompTIA, an international IT certification, noted, “Job seekers need to adjust their expectations. Big tech is hiring for AI-related jobs, but those jobs require more experience than what a fresh graduate has.”
WSJ added that according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the salary for computer science majors is as high as $75,000, but this year’s increase was only 2.7%, the smallest among the eight fields reviewed by NACE.