Big Tech Entry-Level Hiring Plummets

- A Stanford study found that employment for young workers aged 22 to 25 in roles heavily exposed to AI has dropped by 13% since late 2022. Meanwhile, hiring for specialized machine learning and AI positions at the 15 largest U.S. tech firms surged by 27.1% from 2023 to 2024. - The trend of hiring abroad has accelerated, with U.S.-headquartered multinational companies growing their offshore workforce by 32% since 2019, compared to a 16.7% growth in their domestic workforce. This is particularly pronounced in the tech and consulting sectors. - Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows recent computer engineering graduates face a 7.5% unemployment rate, while computer science graduates are at 7.0%. In comparison, the unemployment rate for recent art history graduates was 3%. - While unemployment figures for tech graduates are higher, their "underemployment" rate (working in jobs not requiring a degree) is significantly lower. About 16.5% of computer science graduates were underemployed, compared to 47% of art history graduates. - The broader tech industry has faced significant job cuts, with over 191,000 layoffs at U.S.-based tech companies in 2023 and more than 95,000 in 2024. Companies have cited post-pandemic over-hiring, cost-cutting, and a strategic pivot to AI as reasons for the reductions. - A survey of tech workers revealed that 55% have colleagues on H1B visas. In 2022, the top 30 H-1B employers hired over 34,000 new workers on these visas while simultaneously laying off at least 85,000 employees. - Some companies are shifting their hiring focus away from traditional credentials. One report noted that only 5% of employers still require a traditional degree for new hires, favoring technical AI certifications and coding bootcamp credentials instead.