In 2025, people have grown used to technology constantly evolving. That said, tech jobs have had to adapt, meaning many new jobs have been created, and unfortunately, many others have ceased to exist. You may have heard that computer science is undergoing an adjustment period, but why is that? And for students looking to join the job market after graduation, are computer science degrees still worth it?

What does the Computer Science job market look like?

Due to its rising popularity over the last decades, universities have focused more and more on their computer science-related programs, to which many students have signed up. Since the tech industry evolved, computer scientists have been in high demand and paid very well, making it a very attractive degree for many. But even though programmers are still amongst the most sought-after talent in tech, research from Lightcast saw a 44.8% drop in 2024 job postings compared to a year before.

There are multiple reasons we're seeing this decline. For starters, there was a huge rise in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic since many people and workplaces turned to technology to continue completing tasks. Remote work and government mandates created a greater need for technology, so the tech industry answered. However, when the pandemic came to an end, the return to in-person work hindered that growth and even forced many companies that overhired during the pandemic to downsize their workforce for mostly financial reasons.

The second and most significant threat to computer scientists is the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). AI has developed tremendously in the last couple of years, so much so that low-level coding can now be done through AI with no previous experience. This is bad news for entry-level computer science job seekers, and as time passes, it's safe to assume this will be bad news for all coders alike.

The bright side

However, where one door closes, another opens. Software development and software quality assurance analyst job postings did not suffer a decline like computer scientists but instead have seen an increase of 131% in the same period.

Companies are now using AI to automate menial and repetitive tasks, allowing their employees to focus on more meaningful projects. This means that the specializations they are looking for are changing, but the number of people they are hiring does not need to decrease.

This may be why the demand for computer science degrees hasn't decreased. Yale, for example, has seen a 42% increase in Computer science graduates in 2024. Students know that jobs in computer science won't be the same once they graduate but that the tech industry will still need people who know their way around code.

What's next

In conclusion, the future of computer science is very unpredictable, and so those considering a degree in it should pay attention to major changes in artificial intelligence technology and the industry itself. Though jobs in certain areas are on the decline, others are on the rise, so keep an eye out for those!