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Gen Z unemployment rate 2025 college grads: You’d think that with all the buzz around tech and coding, computer science grads would be flying off the job market, right? Well, not exactly. Surprisingly, recent data shows that computer science majors are actually struggling more than you might expect, with one of the highest unemployment rates among college degrees.

Computer Science Unemployment Rate Rises to 6.1%

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that, 6.1% of computer science grads are out of work, which puts the degree in seventh place for majors with the most unemployment, as per a Newsweek report. This is ranked right after top majors like physics with 7.8% unemployment rate and anthropology with 9.4% unemployment rate for those who graduated in between 2023 and the recent college graduates, according to the report. Even computer engineering, which at many schools is the same as computer science, had a 7.5% unemployment rate, as reported by Newsweek.

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Tech Industry Slowdown Hits New Computer Science Grads the Hardest

A few years ago, tech was booming during the COVID-19 pandemic, and everyone rushed to learn to code, as per the report. But now, with giants like Amazon and Google cutting jobs to boost profits and the market for new computer science grads isn’t what it used to be, according to the Newsweek report.

Finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, Michael Ryan, told Newsweek that, "Every kid with a laptop thinks they're the next Zuckerberg, but most can't debug their way out of a paper bag... We created a gold rush mentality around coding right as the gold ran out. Companies are cutting engineering budgets by 40 percent while CS enrollment hits record highs. It's basic economics. Flood the market, crater the wages," as quoted in the report.

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Best College Majors for Employment in 2025 Aren’t in Tech

Even though computer science is often listed as a top major for college students, ranking as number one by the Princeton Review for college majors, the reality is that many graduates are facing a tough job market, as per the Newsweek report. While majors like nutrition sciences, construction services and civil engineering currently have some of the lowest unemployment rates, which are between 1% to as low as 0.4%, as per the report.

Gen Z Unemployment on the Rise as Job Market Tightens

HR consultant Bryan Driscoll pointed out that, "The problem is the system. We've overproduced degrees without addressing how exploitative and gatekept the tech hiring pipeline has become," adding, "Entry-level roles are vanishing, unpaid internships are still rampant, and companies are offshoring or automating the very jobs these grads trained for," as quoted in the Newsweek report.

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However, it’s not just the tech world struggling as the overall unemployment for recent college grads is rising, according to Newsweek. The unemployment in Gen Z households rose 32% year over year in February, and the unemployment rate for recent college graduates increased 5.8% in March from 4.6% last year, as per Federal Reserve Bank of New York data.

FAQs

Why are computer science grads unemployed?
There are too many graduates and not enough entry-level roles. Plus, many companies are cutting jobs.

What’s the unemployment rate for CS majors?
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, it’s 6.1%.