'I applied to 8,000 companies and still can't find a job': Top US STEM grads face brutal job market

By Seo Ji-yeon, The Herald Business

"I applied to 8,000 companies and still haven't found a job."

Those are the words of Dhruv Sud, 24, a graduate student in information systems at New York University, who recently described his job search to Japan's Nikkei newspaper. Sud fought his way into a prestigious American graduate program, only to find reality after graduation far from what he had expected. Despite sending his resume to thousands of companies, he has been unable to land a full-time position — or even an internship.

As AI spreads rapidly through the US labor market, even computer science and information technology graduates — once considered a near-guarantee of employment — are struggling to find work. Companies are boosting productivity through AI adoption, sharply reducing demand for entry-level hires.

Sud recalled that when he enrolled in graduate school, US big tech companies were locked in fierce competition for talent, offering high salaries to attract candidates.

"When I got my acceptance letter, I thought I'd easily make $200,000 a year after graduation," he said. "Now I'd be happy with $120,000 — honestly, I'd take anything."

Experts say entry-level job seekers are particularly caught in what they call an "experience trap."

"In the past, you could get hired knowing just one programming language and one development tool," Sud said. "Now most companies want three to five years of experience. You can't get hired without experience, and you can't get experience without being hired — it's a vicious cycle."

Similar stories are emerging across the country.

Hallam Kang, 23, who majored in computer science at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said he heard countless times when he enrolled that a CS degree was a guaranteed path to a secure future.

By the time graduation approached, the landscape had changed entirely. Over two years, he applied to more than 500 companies and completed multiple internships, none of which led to a full-time offer.

He ultimately pivoted away from software development and into technical sales. "Ten years ago, or even five years ago, that advice would have been right," he said. "But by the time we graduated, the market was already saturated."

The data back up what these graduates are experiencing.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the unemployment rate for college-educated workers between the ages of 22 and 27 reached 5.6 percent in March — consistently climbing from the roughly 4 percent range it had held since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The figures are particularly stark for technology majors. Unemployment among computer engineering graduates stood at 7.8 percent, while computer science graduates came in at 7.0 percent — higher than nearly every other field of study. Only anthropology posted a higher rate than computer engineering.

Shifting hiring strategies at major US corporations are also playing a role.

Johan Atten, 25, who recently left Meta following a round of layoffs, said the company's atmosphere changed completely within the span of a single year.

He said the share of code written by AI at Meta was around 20 percent in mid-2025, rose to 70 percent early this year, and has since expanded to roughly 95 percent.

"Companies want to spend more money on AI infrastructure than on people," Atten said. "In the past, graduating from a good university with a computer science degree was enough to get into big tech. That's completely changed now."

Meta cut about 8,000 jobs — roughly 10 percent of its total workforce — this year, while planning to invest up to $145 billion in AI infrastructure, including data centers and semiconductors.

Experts say AI is hitting the entry-level job market hardest of all.

Steven Enriquez, a researcher at the Yale School of Management, said work that once required 10 people can now be done by around five. "Many companies are in a phase of testing just how much AI can raise their productivity," he said.

LinkedIn's chief economist Faye Ying identified software engineers, data analysts and marketing managers as among the roles most exposed to AI disruption. "A significant portion of the skills required in many jobs will change going forward," she said. "The ability to use AI will become a core competitive advantage."

A structural shift in the US labor market — where hiring and layoffs are both declining at the same time — is compounding the difficulties facing young job seekers.

Laura Wullich of the US job platform Indeed described the current US labor market as a "low hire, low fire" environment. Companies are delaying new recruitment, she said, narrowing the door for job seekers to enter the workforce.

Yet as that door grows narrower, more young people are choosing to start their own businesses instead.

According to LinkedIn, the number of users listing "Founder" as their occupation rose 75 percent over the past year, reflecting a growing shift away from corporate employment toward entrepreneurship.

Nikkei said the era in which a prestigious degree and a computer science major guaranteed a stable future is drawing to a close, calling it a signal that AI is not merely reshaping industrial structures but reorganizing the very pathways into the US labor market.