Facing the Tech Hiring Freeze
The anxiety of computer science students during the tech hiring freeze
—By Yuchen Shao
This isn’t the first time that Liyang Xu, a senior majoring in computer engineering at the University of Michigan, has been rejected by tech companies before even reaching the interview. In fact, he’s submitted over 300 resumes this year alone, yet only landed five interviews, with only one progressing to a second round. But in the end, none of them resulted in a job offer. Closing his laptop, he chuckled bitterly and said, “I don’t even know what else I can do to get a full-time job anymore. If things keep going like this, I might have no choice but to go to grad school. I really wonder when the tech industry will bounce back to the boom it saw three years ago.”
The anxiety in the crowd
In fact, Xu still has six months before he graduates, and the tech industry’s fall recruitment season is far from over, so there seems to be no need for him to be this anxious. However, his worries are actually well-founded. Given that the “tech hiring freeze” is now such a well-known reality, as highlighted by a report called “Finding a Tech Job Is Still a Nightmare” from Wired, even his friends from other majors often ask him how many resumes he’s sent out recently. Besides, having started applying for internships as early as the summer of two years ago, Liyang Xu has firsthand experience of just how severe the “tech hiring freeze” trend has become. Over the past three years, he has also observed how the expectations for the breadth of skills and the level of proficiency in each have significantly increased for tech jobs. One of the most obvious examples of this is that three years ago, tech companies would only test candidates with one or two easy-level problems from an online practice tool for solving coding puzzles and challenges called LeetCode, during interviews. Now, even the hard-level problems show up in some interviews.
At the same time, the number of rounds of interviews has also increased, according to a report from RALI, causing the Interview durations to balloon to five or eight hours, which makes the whole interview a fierce battle. As a result, candidates have been pushed to develop increasingly higher levels of interview preparedness and professional skills. Though Liyang Xu has completed over 1,800 LeetCode problems, achieved top rankings in several weekly competitions and thoroughly rehearsed and practiced for every possible aspect of the interview, he remains far from optimistic about whether he could get any offer by the end of the recruitment season.
This anxiety has also spread to first-year computer science student Ziang Li. In 2024, admissions to computer science programs are more competitive than ever due to steep growth in student demand according to the restricted admission policy of the University of Michigan. Thus gaining acceptance into the University of Michigan’s computer science program alone underscores his status as a top STEM student in high school. However, even students as accomplished as him can’t escape from the impact of the current job market. Ziang Li shared, “I’ve already solved 200 LeetCode problems over the summer, and I’ve taken several online courses equivalent to those that computer science students typically study in their junior year of college. Despite all that, I haven’t received any responses from any internships I’ve applied for.” His face didn’t show much of the excitement that most college freshmen would have for the coming future or campus life—instead, a shadow of worry settled on his face and was impossible to ignore. A few of us upperclassmen couldn’t help but marvel at the extent of his preparations while reassuring him that tech companies likely haven’t offered him internships simply because he’s only a freshman. We told him things would improve after his first year, especially by the summer after freshman year. Still, our words didn’t seem to ease his concerns much, as none of us can say for sure whether the job market will be even worse next year.
The harsh reality
According to a BBC news report titled “Big Tech Jobs Have Lost Their Glamour,” “23,670 workers were laid off across 85 tech companies in January 2024 alone, including Microsoft, Amazon, eBay, and Google.” Zheng Ma, who graduated with a degree in computer science three years ago, is one of these workers. Back then, he landed a position at Amazon right after graduation, and it was a moment of great pride. But now, due to the “tech hiring freeze,” he has been laid off and forced to search for new opportunities. “The job market now is worlds apart from what it was three years ago,” he said. “Back then, students with just one year of any CS master’s program could easily get offers from tech giants. But now, even top CS graduates from well-known universities struggle to land jobs at mid-sized companies” He shook his head as he spoke. Just then, a new email notification popped up in his inbox about an interview from a hardware company. He added, “There weren’t many tech companies around Michigan to begin with, and the situation has only gotten worse since the tech hiring freeze. Even for someone like me with a few years of experience, the best option is to transition from a large company to a mid-sized one or switch to a related industry. For recent graduates, it’s even tougher—only a handful of small companies or startups are willing to offer them positions.”
Zheng Ma’s analysis is not without basis. A Wall Street Journal report titled “Tech Jobs Have Dried Up—and Aren’t Coming Back Soon” supports his viewpoint: “Instead of growth at all costs and investment in moonshot projects, tech firms have become laser-focused on revenue-generating products and services. They have pulled back on entry-level hires, cut recruiting teams, and jettisoned projects and jobs in areas that weren’t huge moneymakers, including virtual reality and devices.” For companies, these are strategic adjustments. However, this trend casts a shadow over the career prospects of recent computer science graduates, who are primarily applying for entry-level positions.
The complex reasons behind this
The reduction in entry-level positions is not without reason. According to research published by the International Journal of Information, Business and Management, changes in business requirements, changes in business organizations, shifts in production methods and financial problems due to various reasons are the main reasons for layoffs in technology companies. From the end of 2020 to the start of 2023, tech companies overestimated how long the surge in demand for their products would continue, hence their hiring sprees. This, alongside the pessimistic projection of the economy due to the fear of a recession, has caused tech companies to cut back to make up for their reduced surpluses, thus reducing entry-level. However, this doesn’t mean that computer science graduates are inevitably facing unemployment upon graduation, as long as they broaden their focus beyond jobs at tech behemoths.
Adapting to Market Shifts
Some socially responsible companies have also recognized the difficulties faced by recent computer science graduates. While they are unable to offer many relevant positions due to their own development and survival needs, they are trying their best to help these young professionals navigate these challenging times. For example, the Michigan STEM Forward Internship provided by Ann Arbor SPARK has placed over 500 interns since its inception. Dong Shen, an HR representative from Antra, offered a piece of pertinent advice during a coffee chat: “Our company has indeed reduced some entry-level software engineering positions due to a shift in business strategy. However, there has been an increase in demand for other roles, such as marketing and customer needs analysis. New graduates shouldn’t fixate solely on software engineering roles but should explore other opportunities instead. Spend less time on LeetCode, and focus on developing other targeted skills.”
This advice is undeniably practical. For the vast majority of job seekers, after gaining a few years of work experience, job opportunities significantly improve compared to when they were new graduates. It may thus be more practical to focus on securing a job quickly rather than holding specific expectations about the type of role. By gaining experience and shedding the label of “new graduate,” graduates can position themselves for a smoother transition back into computer-related roles when the market improves in the future.
The University of Michigan is also making every effort to prepare students to adapt to new trends. Since 2020, the Computer Science and Engineering department has introduced several courses, including “Systems for Generative AI,” that align more closely with the technical needs of tech companies. At the same time, professors in the department are actively offering guidance to students as they navigate their future career paths. Shengquan Wang, professor of computer and Information Science, offered more traditional advice: “In the past, computer science was seen as a major where graduates could easily land high-paying jobs right after earning their bachelor’s degree. However, now the situation has changed significantly, with a sharp decline in entry-level positions. At the same time, the demand for highly skilled professionals continues to grow. Students today should not limit their focus to entry-level jobs but might consider pursuing higher degrees and acquiring more specialized skills, which not only would help address their own employment challenges but also help bridge the gap in demand for top-tier computer science talent across various industries.”
In response to his professors’ advice, Liyang Xu decided to forgo this year’s highly competitive fall recruitment season and instead enrolled in the “Sequential Undergraduate/Graduate Studies in CSE” program as many of his peers, in which he would obtain both undergraduate and master degree in CSE in 5 years. For him, joining this program not only relieves the pressure of this exceptionally challenging recruitment cycle but also gives him an extra year to prepare. “I hope that things will improve by the time I graduate with my master’s degree in two years and that I’ll be able to find a good job,” he said.
Photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash