Tech firms have sharply decreased their hiring of recent graduates, leaving many new job seekers struggling for a foothold. Senior LinkedIn executive Aneesh Raman recently cautioned that entry roles in technology, once considered the first rung for many, are quickly vanishing as businesses adopt AI.
Since 2019, the fifteen largest tech companies in the United States have slashed graduate hiring by over half according to a recent report from SignalFire. Before the pandemic, graduates made up about 15 percent of those companies’ new hires, but that number has now fallen to just 7 percent.
Tech Roles Move Beyond Silicon Valley
Although these figures suggest a bleak outlook for new grads, overall demand for tech talent has not diminished across the broader market. Instead, technology jobs are becoming more common in other fields such as medical care, banking, and retail as every sector looks to integrate digital tools.
Forecasts indicate that the tech job market trends will grow from 6 million to 7.1 million over the next decade. Unemployment for developers remains low, standing at just over 2 percent, which is approximately half the national jobless rate.
What has changed is the emphasis on advanced skills tied to AI, as many companies now expect new hires to bring experience in emerging technologies. A recent survey revealed that nearly nine in ten technology hiring leaders prize AI skills, and almost one quarter of current job postings mention this requirement. For those searching for entry level tech jobs 2024, developing AI capabilities may be more important than ever.
