For decades, the formula was simple.
Go to university. Graduate. Get a good job.
But that formula is breaking – and AI is making sure it never returns.
In the US today, young graduates are facing an unemployment rate higher than the national average for the first time in history.
The EU, UK, Canada, and Japan are seeing the same trend.
Even Stanford MBAs aren’t immune. In 2024, only four in five had jobs three months after graduation – down from 90% just three years earlier.
So what’s going on?
The End of the Degree Premium
But as universities expanded, the value of that ticket diluted. Everyone has basic tech skills now.
Industries like law, finance, and civil service aren’t growing like they used to.
In the US, there are barely more lawyers today than 20 years ago, despite population growth.
Banking hasn’t recovered its old hiring appetite since 2008. Government jobs don’t pay like they once did.
AI: The Accelerator, Not the Cause
Entry-level jobs – the ones meant for graduates and young workers – are easiest to automate.
Which means it’s no longer enough to ask: “How do I beat my classmates?” You also have to ask: “What can I do that AI can’t?”
And that question isn’t just for the young. It’s for everyone.
Elite Overproduction: When the Smart Become Dangerous
Historian Peter Turchin calls it “elite overproduction.”
When a society produces more highly educated people than elite jobs available, frustration brews. Revolution follows.
In 19th-century France, a surplus of educated men with no roles helped fuel upheaval.
It’s happening again.
Take Luigi Mangione. He was a UPenn graduate destined for a stable, respectable life.
Instead, he’s now on trial for the alleged murder of a health insurance executive.
He’s what Turchin calls a “counter-elite”: educated, excluded, and dangerous to the status quo.
The Rise of Freelancing: Choice Becomes Necessity
Freelance employment has grown 260% in just two years.
Freelancing used to be a lifestyle choice – a luxury.
Now it’s becoming a necessity. The traditional employment model is breaking down. AI, mass layoffs, and enforced office returns are intensifying the scramble for jobs.
So What Do We Do?
Society thrives when people study what they truly care about, not just what guarantees a job.
The world needs artists, philosophers, and poets just as it needs coders and consultants.
But we also need to realise this:
Your degree no longer defines your worth. Your difference from a machine does.
In other words, your degree won’t set you apart anymore. Only what makes you human will.
The future belongs to those who can create their own work – those who choose to become irreplaceable. ■