#JobMarket #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #CollegeDegrees #UnemploymentRate
It’s been said that a college degree will open more doors than just a high school diploma.
But, according to an article by Sydney Ember in the New York Times, there are fewer employers showing up at college job fairs.
In fact, the article states, the unemployment rate for college graduates between ages 22 and 27 surged to 5.6 percent at the end of last year. It quotes an analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That rate outstripped the overall 4.2 percent unemployment rate at the time.
“For those who were employed, more than 40 percent held jobs that do not typically require college degrees, the highest level since 2020,” the article reads.
The Times story was also published March 26, 2026, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The job market probably will be in flux for many years to come.
With the emergence of artificial intelligence, and other economic factors, jobs will change. The need for people will change.
The article also provokes a thought: Though no education is a waste, one will have to think long and hard before committing a lot of money to college in the future.
Definitely, if you don’t think you are college material, don’t waste your money, thinking a degree will somehow pay off later.
AI can do a lot of things. It can accomplish menial but necessary tasks that seem to waste human time.
Robots don’t need bathroom or lunch breaks, vacation time or sick time. Still, there will be a need for humans to repair them when they break down.
Machines can copy. They can perform tasks based on past patterns. But, they are no substitute for human intuition, innovation or creativity.
Machines also do not need college degrees to perform any tasks.
So where does all this leave a young person trying to create an adult life?
We’ve gone through uncertain times before. The Industrial Revolution and the invention of the computer changed work for many people.
Though some people’s lives radically changed, society survived.
This will be another one of those times. We as people may have to rethink how we work, how we make a living and how we advance financially.
Progress cannot be stopped, despite the efforts of those who want to take the U.S. back to another bygone era.
AI may also change our lifestyles. It will certainly make some chores easier, but it may make other things more challenging.
Therefore, it will be incumbent upon us, particularly the younger generations, to rethink how to make a good life.
That may mean thinking about whether to go to college. If you decide to go, will the investment pay off? If you have to go into debt to do it, can you pay it off in a reasonable amount of time?
And, if you get a job somewhere, how long will it last? What are you going to do when one day you suddenly have lost your job?
Despite these potentially difficult decisions, it’s best to stay optimistic. Pessimism and self-doubt can scramble your thought process.
Regardless of what you decide, know that AI is here to stay. How can you best live with it?
Peter