Computer science students face a shrinking big tech job market

In the past, technology companies have used their internship programs to recruit promising job candidates, and many students have offered offers to return as full-time employees after graduation. But those opportunities are shrinking this year.

For example, Amazon hired about 18,000 interns this year, and paid some computer science students nearly $30,000 for the summer, not including housing stipends. The company is now considering cutting the number of trainees for 2023 by more than half, said a person familiar with the program who is not authorized to speak publicly.

Brad Glaser, an Amazon spokesperson, said the company is committed to its training program and the real-world experience it offers. A Meta spokeswoman pointed to a letter to employees from Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s CEO, announcing Company layoffs Last month.

Staffing plans are also changing at smaller technology companies. Roblox, the popular gaming platform, said it plans to hire 300 interns next summer — nearly double this year — and was anticipating more than 50,000 applications for the sites. Redfin, which hired 38 interns this summer, said it has canceled the program for next year.

There are still good jobs for computing students, and the field is growing. Between 2021 and 2031, employment for software developers and testers is expected to grow by 25 percent, to more than 411,000 new jobs, according to forecasts from Bureau of Labor Statistics. But many of these jobs are in areas such as finance and the auto industry.

“Students still get multiple job offers,” said Brent Winkelman, chair of the faculty in the computer science department at the University of Texas at Austin. “They may not come from Meta or from Twitter or from Amazon. They will come from places like General Motors or Toyota or Lockheed.”

University career centers have become sounding boards for anxious students about to enter the tech job market. In the offices of career counselors, the search for a backup plan has increased.