College graduates vying for a career in technology may not have to just compete with each other as they did earlier, but with technology itself with research indicating that the rise of artificial intelligence has hit new graduate hirings in a big way.
According to research published by venture capital firm SignalFire, new graduate hires at big tech companies including Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Tesla has decreased by more than 50% since 2022. Despite market recovery, entry-level tech hiring fell 25% in 2024.
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In large tech companies, only 7% of hiring is recent graduates, a 25% decrease from 2023 and a 50% decrease from 2019 pre-pandemic levels. In startups, less than 6% of hires are recent graduates, and hiring has decreased by 11% from 2023 and by more than 30% from 2019 pre-pandemic levels.
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Graduate Opportunities Shrinking Amid Rising AI Capabilities
According to the research, businesses are investing less in new graduate prospects as budgets get tighter and AI capabilities grow. Organisations are giving priority to positions that produce highly leveraged technical output as AI tools replace more mundane, entry-level jobs.
Non-technical departments like sales, product, and recruiting continue to shrink, showing negative growth from 2023 to 2024. Big tech companies are stepping up efforts in machine learning and data engineering, making it particularly difficult for Gen Z and early-career talent to find their space. Technical roles like machine learning and AI saw the maximum growth (27.1%) from 2023 to 2024.
The Road Ahead
The research predicts the emergence of the generalist engineer in 2025. Engineers no longer require in-depth knowledge of ML to build with AI thanks to the maturation of tools like Copilot, Replit, and Cursor. Employers will show preference for flexible, cooperative, generalist engineers who can work quickly and efficiently with strong tools. Also, new job roles such as AI governance lead, AI ethics and privacy specialists, and agentic AI engineers are likely to spring up.
As entry-level positions become less common, the future will depend on open-source, freelancing, and creative ventures. Mastering the newest AI technologies may not be enough, and graduates will need to understand how to address AI's shortcomings too, the research suggested.
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