Computer Science is the one of the most popular college majors. So popular in fact, that there may be too many computer science engineers for the marketplace now, as evidenced by their higher than the national average unemployment rate. This is not to mention all the recent layoffs within the tech sector. More than 22,000 tech workers have been laid off in 2025. While it is a tough job market for everyone, including those in tech, it does beg the question - will these majors continue to reign as the go-to college major for students seeking out lucrative careers?
Reasons to Major in Tech
STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Math) programs are synonymous with smart people making excellent salaries and who wouldn’t want that? Championed by President Obama in 2009 and again by President Trump 2017 with federal initiatives to promote awareness and participation in these disciplines, STEM careers, particularly tech related careers have exploded as one of the most desirable majors to pursue making up fully one-fifth of all majors selected by students.
Fast-Growing High-Paying Jobs
According to the World Economic Forum report The Future of Jobs, tech related jobs are among the fastest growing job types with Big Data Specialists, FinTech Engineers and AI and Machine Learning Specialists leading the way. In addition to being one of the fastest growing career types, tech jobs also enjoy higher salaries than many other career types with a median annual salary of just over $100,000, double that of the median wage for all occupations combined.
Cutting-Edge Innovation
Aside from the tangible reasons to pursue tech, participating in a career and being given the opportunity to shape the future can be quite exciting. From innovations in healthcare to energy to AI, tech careers are paving the way and solving some of the world’s biggest challenges. Contributing to cutting-edge innovations can be very rewarding, as it gives you the opportunity to leave your mark on the world.
Considerations for Not Majoring in Tech
Each year more than 100,000 students graduate with degrees in tech. Each year it’s projected there will be about 300,000 job openings on average in the tech industry through 2034. When you take into account that there are approximately 7 million people currently work in tech, and grads will be competing with current experienced tech workers that may be looking for a new job, you can begin to see the squeeze. Colleges are producing more and more tech workers at a pace much faster than the market can bare.
AI Taking Entry-Level Tech Jobs
If tech jobs weren’t already hard enough to find, there’s a new threat that AI will be taking at the very least some if not many of the entry level coding jobs. Entry-level jobs have long been how new graduates get their foot in the door within industries that align with their career goals. For those in tech, these would be Junior Software Developers, Data Analysts, Coders and IT Support Specialists. A report by the WEF indicated that upwards of 40% of programming tasks could be automated by 2040.
Options For a Career in Tech
It’s not all doom and gloom if you happen to be interested in a career in tech. In our brave new world of AI (artificial intelligence), other jobs will be created to fill new needs. These include Machine Learning Engineers, Prompt Engineers, AI Ethics Officers and AI Training Data Specialists, among others. As we pivot from one type of tech to another, tech majors shouldn’t become obsolete, but the curriculum will most likely change over time to produce more competitive graduates equipped with the most relevant tech related job skills.
Looks to schools like Carnegie Mellon University, long thought of as the “birthplace of AI’, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and University of California at Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, University of Washington and Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) to lead the way with the more forward-thinking tech programs in the fast-moving and ever evolving tech environment.