Hi Deepika,
I hear these concerns from my students all the time and, unfortunately, they tend to get their information from unreliable sources without doing any real research. Another big concern (myth) of theirs is that the CS major is so impacted that they will not be able to get into college as a CS major.
Before teaching I was a professional software engineer for over 30 years. Every company that I worked for during that time experienced layoffs at one time or another at least once. If one were to just look at one of those layoff periods they may have concluded that the tech/software industry is in decline. However, the overall growth of CS over my career span has been phenomenal!
Yes, AI has the potential to replace some jobs but that is true of almost every knowledge-based profession (legal, medical, etc.). The long-term impact is still unknown but students should understand who is actually creating and integrating this technology into existing workflows. Understanding, working with, creating, and deploying AI is crucial to careers of the not-too-distant future! All the more reason to take CS classes now.
For more recent job projections, take a look at job growth forecasts from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics :
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.nr0.htm
https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/occupational-projections-and-characteristics.htm.
So, projected job growth for CS (software engineering, data science and auxiliary occupations) is still amongst the highest industries.
Hope this is helpful.
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Mitch Middler
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
El Camino College
CSTA Greater Los Angeles Board Member
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-21-2024 21:51
From: Deepika Srivastava
Subject: Is the Tech Job Market Cooling Off
Hello,
I've been hearing from some high school senior students that they're hesitant to apply for computer science majors because they believe the CS job market is shrinking or "exhausted." I wanted to check in and see if you're hearing the same concerns from your students?
Also, if you've come across any reliable articles on this topic, feel free to share. Here are two I found discussing the shifts in the CS job market:
https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescoachescouncil/2024/07/24/mass-layoffs-is-now-still-a-good-time-to-get-a-job-in-tech/
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/21/2-in-3-college-seniors-are-stressed-about-the-tight-job-market.html
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Deepika Srivastava
Redlands CA
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