A college degree is a waste of money and time – Computerworld

For decades, a degree meant higher wages, with college graduates earning significantly more than high school graduates. However, the wage gap has recently plateaued, and the “college wage premium” is no longer growing, according to Indeed’s study.

And as the labor market tightens as the result of AI adoption and an economic downturn, employers are tightening their job experience requirements with along with a larger applicant pool. For example, the percentage of software development job postings requiring less than a year of experience has declined as overall job postings in the sector decrease. In April 2022, 3.2% of developer job postings required less than a year’s experience. In 2025, that has dropped to 1.2% of employers advertising for positions requiring less than a year’s experience, according to Indeed’s Hiring Lab.

“As the class of 2025 prepares to don their caps and tassels, they’re stepping into a labor market marked by extraordinary uncertainty,” Allison Shrivastava, an economist with  the Indeed Hiring Lab wrote in a blog. “While headline job numbers may still appear strong, these figures are both backward-looking and disproportionately buoyed by growth in just a handful of sectors, notably healthcare and social services.”