- The science major asks, "Why does it work?"

The engineering major asks, "How does it work?"

The business major asks, "How much will it cost?"

The liberal arts major asks, "Do you want fries with that?"

(crowd laughing) - We've all heard the jokes.

You know, the ones that suggest that a liberal arts degree is about as useful on a resume as being able to write cursive.

However, in early 2025, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a shocking study about employment prospects for various college majors that seemed to suggest some major changes in the U.S.

labor market.

- After years of hearing, "Learn to code," as the foolproof plan to get a good career, the study found that computer science and computer engineering majors had some of the highest rates of unemployment in the U.S., beaten out by such wishy-washy humanities like art history and philosophy.

Even journalism majors seem to have an easier time finding a job these days, even though the whole field is kind of, you know, dying.

- [Philip] So, should young people who want to make good money trade their laptops for a "Complete Works of William Shakespeare"?

- To code or not to code?

That is the question.

(upbeat music) - No one doubts that computers continue to be an enormous part of the American economy.

With the tech sector recently reaching a peak of over 30% of the total U.S.

equity market value, way more than any other sector.

So the news that graduates specializing in computers would have trouble finding work, had economists scratching their heads and searching for possible culprits.

- And an obvious one is artificial intelligence.

You may think ChatGPT is good at writing haikus and making anime style drawings of your Yorkie, but it may be even better at coding, especially the type of entry level coding that's typically done by recent computer science grads.

Major tech firms like Microsoft and Google admit that a large portion of such coding is now done by AI, perhaps lessening the need for new hires.

- This is a phenomenon that could extend beyond the tech sector: copywriters, paralegals, junior analysts, these are all jobs that AI can and in some cases, is doing.

Companies aren't replacing their experienced higher ups with chatbots yet, but entry level work is easier to automate.

The problem is that this is where many young people start their careers.

Where can you cut your teeth and learn the ropes if the tasks traditionally done by new hires are being done by algorithms instead?

- However, some economists aren't so sure that AI is to blame.

While it's true that the unemployment rate among recent college graduates has risen when compared to the general American workforce, this trend began in 2009, well before ChatGPT was threatening anyone's livelihood.

Although many American companies have shown a keen interest in the potential of AI, relatively few have started using it to actually produce goods and services.

- Some economists point instead to the unfortunate collision of two commonplace market forces.

One is oversaturation.

Computer science and computer engineering have been two of the most popular college majors for years, which means a very large pool of workers with the same skillset.

- This wasn't a problem when the tech sector was experiencing robust growth, but when interest rates rose after COVID, the flood of investor cash that had been propping up the industry dried up.

Companies began laying off their workers to satisfy their shareholders' demands for profitability.

Their CEOs may be using AI as a convenient excuse for what are really just cost-saving layoffs.

- Even though a starting salary in the tech industry is still relatively high, there are a lot of candidates vying for a limited number of jobs.

Recent grads report having to send out dozens, if not hundreds of applications.

Landing a position might require knowing the right people or being willing to take an unpaid internship.

- If this is really a supply and demand problem, the market may correct itself, eventually.

Fewer students will study computer science, the pool of applicants will shrink, unemployment will go down, making the major attractive once again.

- However, some still think that a liberal arts degree might be worth more than it gets credit for.

In 2024, an executive at the massive investment firm BlackRock said, "We have more and more conviction that we need people who majored in history, in English, and things that have nothing to do with finance or technology."

- Part of this has to do with how fast the American economy changes.

Technology is constantly creating new jobs and eliminating others.

Rather than specializing in a very specific skillset, it might be wiser to master the so-called soft skills like adaptability, critical thinking, conflict mediation, and interpersonal communication-- - -skills you're more likely to learn in the humanities than the sciences.

- Indeed, some studies show that even though liberal arts majors earn less than their computer coding peers right out of college, their salaries eventually catch up later in life, and they often have a wider variety of career paths to choose from, like law, business and management.

- Although Philip and I are financial advisors today, we both majored in theater in college, but far from being a waste of time, it taught us communication skills and insights into human psychology that have been invaluable in understanding and advising our clients.

- But if history and literature aren't your thing, there are other fields posting better job numbers than the tech sector right now, like construction services and civil engineering, which will both be crucial going forward as America tries to build its way out of the housing shortage and repair its crumbling infrastructure.

- Nursing is also experiencing very low unemployment, and jobs within the healthcare sector are generally projected to grow much faster than average for the next several years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It's hard to see demand for healthcare workers decrease in the foreseeable future, considering that America will soon have a historically high elderly population and not enough people to take care of them.

- That's not to say that computer skills won't be valuable in the future, it's just that it's harder to tell exactly which skills those will be, especially since the effects of AI on the labor market are more pronounced in the tech industry.

- It's also important to remember that in many surveys, neither low unemployment nor high salaries necessarily correlate with worker satisfaction.

Doing what you love may not have a set dollar value, but that doesn't mean it's not important.

- Just know that someday you may have to pivot.

That's why being well-rounded in your education and experiences is good for your mind and your pocketbook.

- [Both] And that's our two cents.