"In December, Ramirez decided on what he thought was a safer bet: turning away from computer science entirely. He dropped his planned major to instead apply to nursing school. He comes from a family of nurses, and sees the field as more stable and harder to automate than coding. Even though AI might not be at the point where it will overtake all these entry-level jobs now, by the time I graduate, it likely will, Ramirez said."
"Ramirez is not alone in reshaping his career out of anxiety over AI. As students like him are reconsidering their majors over concerns that AI may disrupt their employment prospects, more established workers some with decades of experience are rethinking their trajectories because they're encountering AI at work and share the same unease. Some workers are eschewing it entirely; others are embracing it."
"What is clear is why workers are feeling on edge. The World Economic Forum projects that AI could displace 92m roles worldwide by 2030, including many white-collar positions. In the US, employers cited AI as a factor in nearly 55,000 job cuts in 2025, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a consulting firm, as job seekers navigate a tougher market."
Matthew Ramirez began college as a computer science major in 2025 seeking a high-paying, flexible programming career. Growing headlines about tech layoffs and AI replacing entry-level coders created doubts after an unanswered datacenter technician interview. Ramirez switched in December from computer science to nursing for perceived stability and lower automation risk. Many students and veteran workers are similarly altering career plans, with some avoiding AI and others adopting it. Exact timing and scale of AI job displacement remain uncertain, but projections and employer-cited cuts are already motivating career changes and affecting the labor market.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]