According to government data, Business Insider reveals that those with advanced degrees are now more likely to be unemployed than those who did not go to college. The average time of unemployment for graduates with master’s and doctoral degrees has quadrupled in two years, approaching 18 weeks, double that of workers without a degree. Business Insider points to globalization, employers hiring without degree requirements, and AI as major contributing factors.
U.S. companies, taking advantage of remote work, are increasingly hiring talent abroad, reducing the demand for local professionals. In addition, the trend of hiring based on skills instead of degrees is growing, eroding the traditional advantage of advanced degrees. The rise of artificial intelligence is also automating complex tasks, making formal education less relevant and accelerating skills obsolescence.
This crisis is also exacerbated by the fact that the cost for education in the United States is quite high, as a four-year degree from a private college easily exceeds $250,000. This is leading more and more young people to question the benefits of college and leading them to reconsider whether it is worth committing money, time and effort only to find themselves with no prospects. But further worsening this crisis is also the recent reduction in government jobs, which have traditionally been considered a stable salary with good benefits. The Trump administration has already implemented mass layoffs of the federal workforce across the board, including qualified personnel with advanced degrees, through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency DOGE.
