Job market pessimism is high among students, college grads, as AI makes jobs feel less secure

Half of workers (51%) feel that the current job market is “fair” (31%) or “poor” (20%). This number is higher among college graduates (59% – 32% “fair” and 27% “poor”) and even higher among current students (67% – 32% “fair” and 36% “poor”). Gen Z is most pessimistic, with 31% rating the job market as “poor” vs. 22% of Millennials, 17% of Gen X, and 13% of Boomers.

Students in different majors have differing feelings about the job market. While 66% of social science majors, 66% of physical science majors, and 65% of computer science majors feel the job market is fair to poor, engineering (51%), legal studies (49%), and health sciences (48%) majors are slightly more optimistic.

More than half of students (56%) and 39% of workers say AI has made them more pessimistic about the job market. Among workers who use AI daily/weekly, a dichotomy emerges: 35% say AI makes them more pessimistic about the job market, but 36% say it makes them more optimistic.

Most workers cite the economy as the biggest threat to their job security right now (42%), though 1 in 6 cite AI (17%) or poor company management (16%). 

Two in ten workers (19%) say AI makes their job feel less secure. Among those who use AI daily/weekly, 24% say AI makes their job feel less secure but 27% say they feel more secure. The technology industry is the most impacted, with 37% of tech workers feeling their jobs are less secure due to AI, along with 25% of finance & business services workers (compared to just 9% of those working in constructing/skilled trades). College graduates are more likely to say their job feels less secure (25% vs. 16% of those without a degree).

Students and workers worry about job opportunities being lost to AI

Most workers and students believe that AI is taking away more job opportunities than it adds at all career levels. More than half (53%) of workers and two-thirds (65%) of students say AI is taking away job opportunities for entry level workers. Workers are less worried about AI taking jobs away from mid-career workers (46%) or senior level workers (29%). And 57% of workers and 68% of students say entry level workers are most at risk of losing job opportunities due to the rise of AI.

Students and workers consider changing fields due to the rise of AI

Four in ten students (39%) have considered changing their field of study due to AI (10% have already switched, 29% are considering it), and:

One quarter (24%) of workers have considered changing their industry due to AI (9% already changed, 15% considering) and 35% have considered changing the skills they are focused on developing. Among workers who have considered changing industries:

One in ten workers (9%) and 8% of students have already or are actively planning a switch to trade jobs. An additional 24% of students say they think about switching to a trade job sometimes.

Most students (72%) have at some point avoided using AI due to moral, privacy, or accuracy concerns

Students are more skeptical about AI than workers. More than a third (36%) of students have avoided using AI for environmental concerns (vs. 19% of workers), and 36% have avoided AI for moral, or ethical concerns (vs. 28% of workers). Similarly, 37% of students have avoided AI because it is not accurate or useful (vs. 26% of workers). However, students and workers are aligned on avoiding AI due to privacy concerns (37% of each group).

Workers and students think workplaces should discourage AI use for junior positions

More than half of workers (57%) and two-thirds of students (64%) think that companies should discourage the use of AI for junior or entry level positions. 

Nearly a quarter (22%) of workers would prefer to work at a company where AI is prohibited while only 8% would prefer a company where AI is required. The vast majority (70%) would prefer AI to be optional.

Most workers who are using AI say it makes them more productive, saves time, and will eventually replace at least some of their job duties

One third (34%) of workers say AI has made them more productive, but among those who use AI daily/weekly that number jumps to 73%. And 68% of those using AI daily/weekly say they save time with AI, with 29% saying it saves them a significant amount of time. Among those who use AI daily/weekly, one third (33%) say they currently use AI for more than 25% of their job tasks. 

Over half of workers (55%) say that AI will eventually be able to perform at least some parts of their job as well as them, with 28% thinking AI will be able to replace at least 25% of their responsibilities. That number is higher among those who currently use AI daily/weekly (47% say AI will eventually replace 25% or more of their job tasks, and 21% say it will replace more than half of their responsibilities). 

AI is being used across all aspects of job searching, though they believe that soft skills will be more valuable than knowledge of AI tools

Students are using AI in their job searches to:

Workers think soft skills will be most valuable in the job market given the rise of AI:

One quarter of workers (27%) and students (26%) think it is not at all necessary for job candidates to have experience using AI tools, while 15% of workers and 13% of students think it is absolutely essential. Another 29% of workers and 30% of students think AI is important but not mandatory and 29% of workers and 31% of students say it is nice to have. Among those who use AI daily/weekly, 31% say AI is absolutely essential for job candidates.

Students feel their education prepared them for AI, but believe college is less worthwhile

Half of students (50%) say their education has at least somewhat prepared them to navigate an AI-focused job market (12% feel “very prepared” and 38% feel “somewhat prepared”). Workers who are 6+ years out from formal education feel less prepared (34% feel at least somewhat prepared vs. 52% of those who are 0-5 years out). One quarter of students (23%) say AI was included in coursework, 22% say their school offered access to AI tools, 11% took a class specifically focused on the use of AI tools, and 11% say their school career center offered resources on using AI for job searching. Among those who are 6+ years out from formal education, 88% say they had no formal education around AI vs. 52% of current students.

Despite their formal AI education, 62% of students think that AI has made college less worthwhile. Half of students think that colleges should require students to take AI courses (24% think all students should have to take these courses and 31% think only some students/majors should have to take AI courses). Among workers, 32% think all students should have to take AI courses and 23% think it should be required for only some students. And among workers who use AI daily/weekly, 51% think all students should be required to take AI courses and 25% think only some students should have to take them.

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